Vancouver, BC – Internationally, inventory mapping for foresters has benefited considerably from developments in drone and lidar technologies. Many senior forest managers are now focused on how the new systems deliver better deicsion-making by foresters on the ground out in the woods.

Service providers understand that forest managers need a way to tailor the data being collected to the questions they need answered. They need practical outcomes regardless of the techologies being employed to turn forest data into useful information. Both providers and users need clear goals to deploy the right solutions. Forestry technology solutions are now widely available and well-supported internationally.

Several international experts and foresters are coming together from countries with strong technical networks to a new forestry technology conference in early March 2018. The ForestTECHX 2018 conference will provide leading managers and technical staff from key forestry companies with a timely and independent overview of lidar, geomatics and data collection tools.

Vancouver-based conference organizer, Anthony Robinson from Logging & Sawmilling Journal says, “We’ve been seeing a positive response from western forest companies to our line-up of speakers. Service provider interest has been running high as well – which allowed us to add two further technical experts to our one-day conference.”

Zack Parisa, MFS is the founder and president of SilviaTerra. In his work with forestry companies in the US and abroad, Zack observed radical discrepancies in inventory practices across the industry and saw situations where millions of dollars were lost because of poor information. In response, Zack developed and patented a new process which uses remotely-sensed imagery to make cruising far more efficient.

The focus for this year’s series will be on “unlocking the true value of data” for forest operations. Key themes for this year’s event will include:

• How virtual reality tools are delivering gains
• How skill sets are changing for managers
• How leading loggers are using harvester data
• Learnings from reconciling remote sensing data in the field
• Practical application of robotics and sensors by forest managers
• Better ways to store, process and manage ‘big data’
• New mobile forest apps
• New GIS applications.

The 2018 ForestTECHX conference runs 6-7th March at the Executive Airport Plaza Hotel in Richmond, BC.

For full details to register see: https://foresttechx.events

In Wood Markets’ new five-year softwood lumber forecast, the continuation of U.S. duties on Canadian lumber exports to the U.S. is expected to cause more short-term market and price volatility. The preliminary duties launched earlier in 2017 rocked the U.S. market and more of the same is expected in 2018. The Wood Markets outlook report predicts more chaos and the chance of further record-breaking prices in North America, while global lumber supply tightens and exports grow.

The recent announcement of final countervailing (CVD) and anti-dumping (ADD) duties on Canadian lumber exports to the U.S. will cause lumber prices to remain near record levels in 2018 and even higher at various points over the next five years, Wood Markets/FEA Canada predicts. This is because Canadian lumber production and Canadian exports to the U.S. are forecast to ease in 2018.

“Simply put,” said Russ Taylor, managing director, Wood Markets/FEA Canada, “by restricting incremental Canadian lumber exports via import duties, there may not be enough lumber supplies to adequately balance with projected U.S. demand. There will need to be major increases in U.S. lumber capacity (which is starting to build), more offshore imports, and/or record-level prices to stimulate more supply. The question that we have seen coming for a number of years is: Where will the U.S. get all of the lumber it needs, and at what price?”

While the timing of supply and demand forces is always unpredictable, the group forecasts that the first real “supply gap” could occur as early as 2019. This is when there may not be enough incremental lumber supplies that are readily available to meet overall projected U.S. demand, without seeing an increase (versus the forecast decrease) in Canadian lumber imports.

“What this all could mean,” said Taylor, “is that ongoing price volatility can be expected again in 2018, and even more so in 2019 and/or 2020, when further record-level lumber prices are forecast in the U.S. market.”

Some of the regional trends for North America are summarized here:
– As the import duties on Canadian lumber imports will give many U.S. mills a substantial cost advantage, a surge of capacity expansions has already started and more are expected. This should allow American mills to increase their market share of its home market.

– From near 34 billion bf in 2017, total U.S. output is forecast to increase by around 10 billion bf by 2022, depending on the mill capacity increases in the U.S. This forecast production surge is considered to be a very aggressive and will be difficult to achieve, but it is considered possible given the improved competitive advantage of U.S. mills as lumber prices rise.

– Canadian lumber production is expected to dip slightly in 2018 and potentially in 2019 from the impact of U.S. import duties and tight timber supplies. Exports to China are forecast to increase slightly, but this will depend on lumber price levels as compared to the U.S. price, net of import duties.

– The B.C. Interior timber harvest will drop as import duties marginalize some sawmills, as well as from the impact of lower output from uneconomic mountain pine beetle-killed timber.

 – As a higher cost region in Canada, Eastern Canadian mills could have difficulties, at times, to absorb import duties when lumber prices soften. However, is it expected that by 2020 (and maybe sooner), more exports will be required to fill the expected U.S. “supply gap”.

European structural softwood lumber imports are forecast to ramp up dramatically to take advantage of the pending supply gap, that should keep lumber prices at high levels. The magnitude of European softwood lumber exports to the U.S. is difficult to predict, but higher prices will attract more volumes to the U.S.

 Source: Wood Markets/FEA Canada

New Zealand log exports hit a new record last year, underscoring the concerns of local manufacturers that the country is sending too many unprocessed logs overseas, posing a threat for local timber supply in the future and undermining the goal to add more value to exports.

The country exported NZ$2.41 billion of softwood logs in the first 11 months of last year, surpassing all previous records for any full calendar year, according to the latest Statistics New Zealand figures. Data for the full year will be released on 30 January.

New Zealand is experiencing strong demand for logs from China, which has clamped down on harvesting its own forests and reduced tariffs on imported logs to meet demand in its local market. In the first 11 months of 2017, New Zealand exported NZ$1.81 billion of logs to China, above the level for any full calendar year and accounting for 75 percent of softwood exports.

Increased shipments of raw logs goes against the aim of successive governments to add more value to commodities and riles the wood processing sector, which says more manufacturing needs to be done at home to sustain the local industry. It says an upswing in demand for wooden housing could see supply having to be met from overseas if the current situation prevails.

Prior to the election, the wood industry, representing New Zealand’s third-largest export commodity group, was annoyed at the lack of attention it received from the Ministry for Primary Industries which it felt was more focused on food safety, agriculture, horticulture and biosecurity of the border. Forestry, it was felt, was at the bottom of the MPI pile and fronted by junior ministers and officials.

The industry starts this year in a more upbeat mood with the new coalition government’s commitment to re-establish the Forest Service, plant more trees, focus on regional economic development, require greater scrutiny of overseas investment in forestry, and improve the Emissions Trading Scheme for forestry amid industry concerns that foresters couldn’t compete with rival land users such as dairy farmers under the current system.

“We are certainly on the radar now with the government very much pushing in the right direction. The whole industry has a much higher profile now,” said Jon Tanner, chief executive of the Wood Processors & Manufacturers Association of New Zealand. “Forestry worldwide has to have the hand of government.”

While government initiatives gave the industry more optimism about the long-term future, Tanner said uncertainty remained around the shorter-term issue for the domestic market of more unprocessed logs heading overseas. “We are still very concerned about the competition in the market right now and where that is going and how that is going to be regulated and tackled,” he said. “We have got a major problem in the set-up of the market. We have got a lot of logs being exported, and it’s being increased.

“The demand out of China, all the pundits are saying, it’s just only going to increase.” Other wood exporting countries such as Canada and Russia support their local industries while Chinese wood manufacturers benefit from subsidies, creating an uneven playing field for New Zealand processors, according to the WPMA which would like to see the government take a complaint to the World Trade Organisation.

Tanner said the WPMA was contacted by its counterparts in Australia late last year who were starting to experience a similar problem of increasing log exports to China.

Source: Scoop

Daimler Trucks North America (DTNA) recently announced that David Carson, currently president of Freightliner Custom Chassis Corporation (FCCC), has been appointed president of Western Star Trucks and chief diversity officer of DTNA. Carson succeeds Kelley Platt who has been promoted within the Daimler AG global organization to president and chief executive officer of Daimler’s truck joint venture Beijing Foton Daimler Automotive Co., Ltd. (BFDA) in China.

“While we will miss Kelley’s leadership and her significant contributions as a member of the Daimler Trucks North America Operating Committee, we are confident that David’s dedication and proven track record as a leader position him well as the new leader of Western Star as we look to the future for the vocational truck brand,” said Roger Nielsen, president and CEO, Daimler Trucks North America.

David Carson, President, Western Star Trucks & Chief Diversity Officer, Daimler Trucks North America
In his role leading the Western Star team and the strategic direction for the company’s commitment to diversity and inclusion, Carson will become a member of the company’s Operating Committee. Carson was appointed to his current role as president of FCCC in 2015, where he oversaw engineering, operations and sales & marketing for DTNA’s chassis business.

Under his leadership, FCCC continued its development of product offerings and enhancements in the school bus, RV and walk-in van segments, leading to record performance in 2016. He also led efforts to significantly invest in and expand on the brand’s operations, including construction of a new logistics center and chassis loading facility.

Previously, Carson served in a variety of leadership roles, most recently as the company’s general manager of human resources responsible for all human resource matters, including negotiations with labor unions. Prior to joining DTNA in 2001, Carson built extensive experience leading operations for an industry-leading automotive supplier and a global technology company.

Carson earned a Bachelor’s degree in Psychology and a Master’s degree in Industrial Relations from the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

Kelley Platt, President & CEO, Beijing Foton Daimler Automotive Co. Ltd.
Kelley Platt will become president and chief executive officer of Beijing Foton Daimler Automotive Co. Ltd. In this role, Kelley will report to Sven Ennerst, Truck Board Member for Procurement, R&D, and newly appointed for China.

“Kelley’s leadership and dedication to our customers and to continuously improve will continue to be integrated into our company as we move forward,” said Nielsen. “We wish her the best of luck in China where she will bring a wealth of experience with her.”

Under the leadership of Kelley Platt, Western Star has set sales and market share records. Previously, from 2010 to 2015, Platt served as the president and CEO of Thomas Built Buses (TBB) in High Point, N.C., where she contributed to TBB attaining leadership of the North American school bus market. While at TBB, Platt was the recipient of the Manufacturing Institute’s prestigious STEP Award, recognizing outstanding women in the manufacturing industry who exemplify leadership within their companies.

Platt started her Daimler career in 1989 as a manager in the treasury department. She founded the Business Excellence Group in 2006, which first introduced the company to the idea that continuous improvement and LEAN principles could be applied in the office environment in the same manner as was already proving successful in the manufacturing arena. She has been a strong advocate of diversity and inclusion both for DTNA and on the larger global Daimler landscape.

Platt holds a Bachelor’s of Science degree in Economics from Colby College and a Master’s of Business degree in Operations and Finance from Duke University’s Fuqua School of Business.

About Beijing Foton Daimler Automotive
Beijing Foton Daimler Automotive Co., Ltd. (BFDA) is a 50:50 joint venture of Daimler and Chinese manufacturer Beiqi Foton Motor Co., Ltd. BFDA produces medium- and heavy-duty trucks under the Auman brand, with the first jointly-produced Auman truck rolling off the assembly line in 2012. A new engine plant has been built next to BFDA’s headquarters in Beijing’s Huairou District, with the first localized Mercedes-Benz OM457 heavy-duty engine produced there in 2015.

About Western Star Trucks
Western Star Truck Sales, Inc., headquartered in Portland, Ore., produces tough custom trucks for highway and vocational applications. Western Star is a subsidiary of Daimler Trucks North America LLC. Daimler Trucks North America produces and markets Class 5-8 vehicles and is a Daimler company, the world’s leading commercial vehicle manufacturer.

About Daimler Trucks North America
Daimler Trucks North America LLC, headquartered in Portland, Ore., is the leading heavy-duty truck manufacturer in North America. Daimler Trucks North America produces and markets commercial vehicles under the Freightliner, Western Star, and Thomas Built Buses nameplates. Daimler Trucks North America is a Daimler company, the world’s leading commercial vehicle manufacturer.

The Atlantic Heavy Equipment Show is returning to the Moncton Coliseum Complex this spring, with over three decades of bringing the industry together on a bi-annual basis. Taking place April 5th and 6th, the event is Atlantic Canada’s most comprehensive heavy equipment show.

REGISTRATION IS NOW OPEN for the colossal event, which attracted a record-breaking 14,700 visitors in 2016. Convenient online registration and full details are available on the show website: http://www.AHES.ca. Pre-registration is $15.00 per person, and until February 9, visitors can buy one ticket and get a second FREE.

Plus: those who pre-register by March 22 will receive a ballot for a chance to win a Prize Showcase valued at over $5,000.00 presented by Liebherr, Selco Equipment, Maritime Case Ltd., United Rentals and Nova Truck Centres.

“The Atlantic Heavy Equipment Show is regarded as a standout event for Canada’s heavy equipment sectors,” said National Show Manager Mark Cusack. “Over 200,000 square feet of big iron and high energy at this show continues to bring exhibitors and customers back year after year.”

The Atlantic Heavy Equipment Show is owned and sponsored by the Atlantic Land Improvement Contractors Association (ALICA). Its first edition was held at the Moncton Coliseum in the winter of 1986, occupying Agrena A and just half of Agrena B with live demos in the annex.

Now entering its 32nd year, the Atlantic Heavy Equipment Show has grown to fill the entire Coliseum-Agrena complex – the largest trade show facility in Atlantic Canada – with an additional 80,000 square feet of outdoor exhibits. Under the management of Master Promotions, the show continues to grow and attract a loyal base of customers and exhibitors alike.

For complete details on the Atlantic Heavy Equipment Show, visit www.AHES.ca.

Media Inquiries:
Mark Cusack   mcusack@mpltd.ca   1.888.454.7469
Aurora Boudreau  aboudreau@mpltd.ca  1.888.454.7469

Built for land-clearing and pipeline right-of-way operations, the HG6800TX horizontal grinder offers a high-horsepower engine on a tracked machine with a compact design. Featuring 950 hp (708 kW) in a 92,000 lb (41,730.5 kg) class, and an infeed design designed specifically for feeding larger materials such as whole trees and large stumps, the new grinder is built to power through tough materials with less operator interaction.

After 30 years, Bradford Forest, Inc., a Danzer company based in Bradford, PA, changed its name to Danzer Lumber North America, Inc. on January 1st, 2018. “The name change is part of Danzer’s overall brand strategy to provide a diverse product offering under one common Danzer brand,” says Steve Bukowski, General Manager of Danzer Lumber North America, Inc. and adds: “The transition to the new name will be seamless for customers, with no interruption in great products and services.” Danzer Lumber North America operates two production facilities in Pennsylvania, one in Bradford, PA and one in Shade Gap, PA. Each location specializes in different product portfolios and employ a combined total of approximately 200 people.

Danzer Lumber, Bradford Sawmill – Production of Premium Hardwood Lumber
The Bradford sawmill is one of the tenth largest hardwood sawmills in North America. The facility processes 26 MMBF (61,350 cubic meters) of lumber annually and employs approximately 160 people. “We are in the heart of the best cherry in the world, which enables us to offer consistent, high-quality cherry lumber. With our controlled procurement strategy, we are also able to maintain a high degree of color consistency in other species we offer” states General Manager Steve Bukowski. Hardwood species processed at the Bradford facility are cherry, hard and soft maple, red and white oak, and ash. Bradford’s technologically advanced sawmill enables the efficient conversion of logs into consistently sawn hardwood lumber.

Danzer Lumber, Shade Gap Facility – Specializing In Drying Thick Stock Lumber
The Shade Gap facility employs approximately 40 people and processes 7.5 MMBF (17,700 cubic meters) of lumber each year. With years of thick stock kiln-drying experience, the Shade Gap facility is a partner of choice for customers needing quality, consistently dried thick stock. Shade Gap also offers high-quality kiln-dried lumber in more typical thicknesses. Proximity to the resource base is a key logistical advantage of the Shade Gap facility. The main hardwood species processed at the Shade Gap facility are walnut, white oak, red oak, hard and soft maple, cherry and ash.

Danzer facts box:
One of the world’s largest producers of decorative hardwood.
Founded: 1932
Holding company located in: Dornbirn, Austria
Production sites: 4 in Europe, 5 in North America
Sales offices: 7 in Europe, 8 in North America, 3 in Asia
Product range: sliced wood, lumber, timber and logs, speciality products (Vinterio, 3D-Veneer)
Sales in 2016: EUR 190 million (229 million USD)
Supplies customers in 87 countries worldwide
Employees: 1,600 worldwide

About Danzer:
Danzer is a leading quality hardwood company with production facilities in North America and Europe. It has approximately 1,600 employees and services customers from 18 sales offices worldwide. Founded in 1932, Danzer is managed by a third-generation family member. The company owns and sustainably manages forests in North America and produces sliced veneer, lumber and innovative value-added wood products for decorative purposes. Danzer products are used in high-quality furniture, kitchen cabinets, cars and other applications.

www.danzer.com

Media contact: Danzer Holding AG
Hintere Achmuehlerstrasse 1,
6850 Dornbirn,
Austria
Eckart Schmitt T: +43 5572 3944 90 M: mailto:eckart.schmitt@danzer.comW: http://www.danzer.com

Wood is increasingly being used to replace coal as a source of electricity generation in many regions such as the European Union, where policymakers have declared it “carbon neutral.” However, new research from researchers at MIT, Climate Interactive, and UMass Lowell reveals that displacing coal with wood for power generation can make climate change worse for many decades or more.

In the new study, Does replacing coal with wood lower CO2 emissions? Dynamic lifecycle analysis of wood bioenergy, the researchers—John Sterman, the Jay W. Forrester Professor of Management at MIT Sloan School of Management; Juliette Rooney-Varga, Director of the UMass Lowell Climate Change Initiative; and Lori Siegel, PhD, Senior Modeler for Climate Interactive—examine the climate impact of replacing coal power generation in the EU and UK with wood pellets sourced from forests in the southern US. The research is slated for publication on Friday, January 19, 2018 in the academic journal, Environmental Research Letters. The paper can be accessed online at http://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/1748-9326/aaa512/pdf

The researchers found that wood pellets burned in European and UK power plants, such as the Drax facility in North Yorkshire, England—which has transitioned some of its coal power generation capacity to wood pellets with the support of UK government subsidies—actually emit more CO2 per kilowatt hour than that generated by coal. This is because wood is both less efficient at the point of combustion and has larger processing and supply chain emissions than coal. Their research shows that using wood instead of coal in power generation increases the amount of CO2 in the atmosphere, worsening climate change until—and only if—the harvested forests regrow.

US forests are a main source for EU wood pellet imports, which have been rising as demand has grown. These forests grow back slowly, so it takes a long time to repay the initial “carbon debt” incurred by burning wood instead of coal. For forests in the central and eastern US, which supply much of the wood used in UK power plants, the payback time for this carbon debt ranges from 44 to 104 years, depending on forest type—and assuming the land remains forest. If the land is developed, or converted to agricultural use, then the carbon debt is never repaid and grows over time as the harvested land emits additional carbon from soils.

The research was conducted with the use of a system dynamics model, based on the award-winning Climate Rapid Overview and Decision Support (C-ROADS) simulator. Launched in 2008, the model was reviewed by an external scientific review committee, chaired by Sir Robert Watson, former Chair of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). A summary of their review can be accessed here.

The researchers also explored an increasingly common scenario in which hardwood forests harvested for bioenergy are replaced with faster-growing loblolly pine plantations. Surprisingly, replanting with fast-growing pine plantations worsens the CO2 impact of wood because managed plantations do not sequester as much carbon as natural forests.

They found that continued growth in wood use, as many predict, will worsen climate change throughout the rest of this century, or longer. This is because the first impact of substituting wood for coal in power generation is an increase in CO2 emissions. Even if the forests eventually regrow, notes Prof. Sterman, each year the new carbon debt from increased harvest and combustion outweighs the regrowth, just as borrowing more on a credit card each month than one is able to pay back will steadily increase what he or she owes. For countries using wood bioenergy as a component of their climate policies this could take them backwards. Indeed, bioenergy from wood made up 44% of the EU’s renewable energy production in 2015.

“A molecule of CO2 emitted today has the same impact on the climate whether it comes from coal or biomass,” says Sterman. “Declaring that biofuels are carbon neutral, as the EU, UK and others have done, erroneously assumes forest regrowth happens quickly and fully offsets the emissions from biofuel production and combustion. One way to address the challenges raised in this study would be to count emissions where they occur, for example, at a power plant, and monitor and count carbon removed from the atmosphere by regrowth on the harvested land.”

Critically, the analysis doesn’t support continued coal use as it is the most carbon intensive fuel and a major contributor to climate change. The researchers stress energy efficiency, solar, wind and storage as the cheapest, safest, and quickest ways to cut greenhouse gas emissions while meeting energy needs.

The model behind the research is available for scientists and policymakers to design their own scenarios for bioenergy, conduct sensitivity analysis, and get immediate feedback showing the full dynamics, including both short and long run impacts.

Drax produces about 7% of the UK’s power. The picture shows unloading wood pellets at ABP Immingham for this power plant.

Source: John Chadwick http://www.im-mining.com

Always striving to increase its business volume while maintaining personalized customer support, Carbotech has announced the opening of a new office on Québec City’s north shore (Saint-Nicholas sector).

A division of the Plessiville head office’s engineering department, the new offices will mainly accommodate new draftspeople, mechanical engineering technicians, engineers, project managers and the members of our after-sales service, CARBOCARE.

Taking advantage of its momentum and a favourable economy, Carbotech will continue developing markets in South America, Europe, Oceania, the United States and Canada. At the same time, the company will maintain its contribution to the lumber industry by continuing to develop patented concepts for efficient lumber production.

Carbotech will be launching an extensive recruitment campaign in the greater Québec City area to welcome more people to its team.

About Carbotech
Carbotech specializes in maximizing production efficiency and high-speed board handling in sawmills and planer mills.

Always working on new ideas and patents, Carbotech is a highly valued partner in the industry, relying on a skilled 100 – person workforce. Its mission over the past 30 years has focused on these four principles: speed, precision, know-how and durability. Carbotech has a number of business partners, parts & service distribution centres and mechanical intervention centres to serve its markets around the world. For more information, please visit www.carbotech.ca

Mathieu Laflamme
International Sales & Marketing Director
Tel.: 819-362-6317 / m.laflamme@carbotech.ca

Isabelle Brisson
HR Coordinator
Tel.: 819-362-6317 / isabelle.brisson@carbotech.ca

Tigercat’s new 2160 loader forwarder is well suited to mill yard and a variety of tough duty off-road industrial applications.

The 2160 has a 27-tonne payload capacity and is equipped with Tigercat’s WideRange® drive system and Tigercat-designed and built bogie axles for high tractive effort, quick travel speeds and mechanical reliability.

The upper assembly is equipped with a 9 m (30 ft) knuckleboom loader style boom system with powerful lift capacity and heavy-duty construction. The machine is extremely stable. Tigercat’s unique centre section design promotes excellent stability and reduced reliance on the oscillation lock, allowing the machine to lift large loads without the use of stabilizers.

The 360-degree continuous rotation closed loop swing system combined with the quick and smooth boom, provides unmatched productivity and efficiency when loading, stacking and sorting logs or other materials.

The WideRange® drive transmission provides high tractive effort, quick working speeds, and excellent fuel efficiency without the need to shift gears. Combine this with the low ground pressure and performance capabilities of the Tigercat designed bogie axles for first class performance.

The Tigercat FPT N67 Tier 4f engine rated at 212 kW (285 hp) allows all of these functions to run simultaneously, resulting in unmatched productivity.