Woodworking industry

The provincial government of New Brunswick will be taking a series of actions to strengthen and renew the province’s forest industry.

An action plan has been drafted based on recommendations from a stakeholder summit held in November.

Seattle, USA. Over the past year, the sawmilling sector in Europe has shifted from high production levels and the highest lumber prices in four years, to weakening lumber demand and reduced prices for many lumber grades during this fall.

Reuters reported this week that Russia and the European Union struck a deal on Wednesday to phase out Russian export tariffs on raw materials.This is designed to smooth the way for Moscow’s entry into the WTO.

Russia will reduce its wood tariffs probably within a year. Russia has given this promise to reduce timber dutis in negatiations to the European Commission in exchange for membership in the World Trade Organization (WTO) according to the Finnish TV Yle.

A new study finds a lack of transparency and corruption are reducing the impact of an initiative in Cameroon that channels a portion of national timber levies to rural forest communities. The study highlights the challenges of using a climate change pact to do something similar in forested regions around the world.