October 2012. Floor space for Domotex asia/Chinafloor is 79% booked five months ahead of the March 26-28, 2013 show in Shanghai. Enthusiasm for new programs, the addition of a new segment to the show and recognition that Domotex asia/Chinafloor sits at the epicenter of one of the world’s fastest growing flooring markets are factors fueling early exhibitor bookings, according to show organizers. Show floor space was increased to 130,000 square meters and based upon early figures the organizers believes turnout could increase as much as 6-9% to 45,000 in 2013.
The world’s largest wood flooring showcase. Domotex asia/Chinafloor 2013 will be the largest showcase for wood and laminate manufacturers the world has ever seen, dedicating around 50% of its total show floor to the segment that includes solid and engineered woods, laminate, cork and bamboo.
After few years of absence global giants Unilin-Quickstep, Pergo, Kronoflooring and Kronoswiss will be back to the show in 2013. BerryAlloc, Floover, AHEC, and NWFA have re-confirmed their attendance after last year’s participation and join the ranks of hundreds of wood segment exhibitors at Domotex asia/Chinafloor.

Armstrong Raises Engineered Wood Flooring Prices Up to 6% Armstrong World Industries (Lancaster, Pa.) will initiate up to a six percent price increase on all engineered hardwood flooring products in the United States and Canada effective with shipments on Dec. 17, 2012. “We find it necessary to adjust our prices due to higher than anticipated inflation in plywood and face veneers, as well as increased transportation costs” said Kevin Biedermann, senior vice president, Armstrong Residential Floor Products, in a press release.
“We truly understand how difficult it is to pass along price increases to customers. Our focus remains on reducing costs wherever possible through productivity and operational improvement projects without compromising our quality or service.”
Last month Armstrong announced it would raise prices on its solid products by 6 percent for shipment as of Dec. 17. In October the company also announced its strongest earnings since emerging from bankruptcy in 2006, despite weaker wood flooring sales in the third quarter of 2012.

Source: hardwoodfloorsmag.com

The European woodworking industries salute the work of the European Commission and the Parliament to approve the report on the accounting rules and national plans for emissions resulting from land use and land use change from agricultural and forest activities, better known for its acronym LULUCF.
The new rules open the way not only to improve the carbon accounts, but also to include in these accounts the pool of wood products in use in each Member State, by acknowledging that wood, until the end of its useful life, continues storing the CO2 the trees absorbed during their growth.
Ladislaus Döry, President of the European Panel Federation (EPF2) stated that “Europe will be more inclined to use nature’s recipe for carbon storage: Use more wood! The industry is continuously supplying innovative wood products in the Member States.
We expect that the new LULUCF rules will prompt governments to support the sector concretely, for example by encouraging the replacement of more energy-intensive materials for wood in new construction and renovation”. Immediately after the vote in Plenary in Strasbourg, MEP Gaston Franco, Chairman of the Club du Bois, stated “on behalf of the European Parliament, I am asking the Council to accept amendments introduced by the Parliament because they will allow for the creation of even more solid rules for LULUCF. This way, the accounting rules will include the useful role of wood and wood products in the storage of greenhouse gases”.
Mr Franco added: “to implement these rules, the European Union is counting on its Member States to develop national rules and action plans concerning the LULUCF. This way they will contribute to increase the storage of carbon in wood products. We must not forget that every cubic meter of wood stores close to 1 cubic ton of CO2, and this without counting the CO2 saved by replacing other, more energy-intensive materials”. The new LULUCF rules finally correct the aberration introduced by the Kyoto Protocol in 1997 when it was decided that, whenever a tree was cut, the CO2 returned to the atmosphere at once. Decades later, it is acknowledged that the CO2 in fact stays in the harvested wood product until the end of its useful life. Then, and not earlier, is when wood plays a role as a renewable energy source. The European wood and panel industries will continue working along the EU policy-makers in the development of the concrete application of these new rules.

The decision of the European Federation of Parquet Importers (EFPI) to become an associate member of the European Timber Trade Federation (ETTF) will strengthen both organisations. This is the shared view of EFPI chairman Nigel Gibbs and ETTF Secretary General André de Boer.
The relationship between the two bodies began with a presentation by Mr de Boer to EFPI members on the role of the ETTF and the potential benefits they could derive from joining as associates. A period of trial membership followed. “This showed to us just how many areas of overlapping interest we had with the wider ETTF membership, and how we could both gain from pooling resources,” said Mr Gibbs. “That in turn led eventually to us officially becoming members on January 1.” The EFPI has six principal members, but with the organisation representing the Nordic countries comprising a number of subsidiaries, taking the total membership to 14. The other bodies represent the sector in France, Germany, the Republic of Ireland, Italy and Holland. “Our members obviously all deal in timber flooring and associated products, so we are complementary organisations and there is clear benefit to be gained from mutual exchange of information and expertise,” said Mr Gibbs. “our joint knowledge on the wider supply chain and our connection to the consumer markets will bring about mutual benefits.”
Of particular relevance to the EFPI currently, is the ETTF’s focus on the EU Timber Regulation; its programme of providing easily accessible information and interpretation of the new law and especially its development of an Due Diligence illegality risk assessment system to help members comply.
“Our membership include what are termed ‘operators’ under the EUTR, companies which first place timber products onto the EU market,” said Mr Gibbs. “So the Due Diligence system is clearly of value to them.” The two organisations would also gain from working together and exchanging information on other national and international regulatory developments, he said. Another attraction of associate membership was the emerging European Wood Promotion project (EWP), launched by the ETTF and European Organisation of the Sawmill Industry (EOS) at last year’s International Softwood Conference.