October 26, 2007

Raised Floor Effort to Expand with $1 Million Grant

The Southern Pine Council will receive a $1 million grant from the Bi-National Softwood Lumber Council to expand its Raised Floor Living campaign, reports SFPA President Digges Morgan.  “SPC targeted raised floor construction several years ago as a primary way to benefit homeowners in the flood-prone Gulf Coast area and at the same time strengthen the market for building with wood products,” Digges said. “The Bi-National Council felt this was a worthwhile effort that merited their support.”

The Bi-National Council was created in conjunction with the Softwood Lumber Agreement 2006, which governs the trade of softwood lumber products between the United States and Canada. The council’s objective is to strengthen the North American softwood lumber industry by increasing the market for its products and building stronger cross-border partnerships and trust at all levels of the industry. To achieve those goals, the council received $50 million from U.S. duties collected on Canadian imports and is using those funds to support programs that meet its objectives. The five initiatives to be considered for funding included developing new methods and markets for using wood in raised floor systems.

“SPC’s Raised Floor Living program was a perfect match for that initiative, so we were invited to apply for funding, and a final presentation to secure the grant was made in Chicago last week,” Digges said.

SPC will use the funds to intensify its efforts in the Gulf Coast markets already being targeted (along the I-10 corridor from Lake Charles, La., to Pensacola, Fla.) and to expand the Raised Floor Living campaign into Houston, Texas. “Houston is our nation’s No. 1 residential construction market and also faces serious flooding risks from hurricanes,” Digges said. “Those two factors combined make it a prime market for our program.”

SPC will also use some of the grant to learn more about consumers’ perceptions about raised floor construction and to develop information to help builders understand the advantages of offering homes with raised floor foundations.

SPC is a joint effort of SFPA and the Southeastern Lumber Manufacturers Association (SLMA), created in 1988 to promote Southern Pine lumber. Bi-National Council members include Mike Rehwinkel of SFPA member company Georgia-Pacific LLC and Hank Scott of SLMA member company Collum’s Lumber Products LLC.

Exports Could Hit Highest Level Since 2000

U.S. softwood lumber exports during 2007 could top one billion board feet (Bbf) for the first time since 2000, said SFPA Director of Economic Services Wade Camp. Southern Pine exports are leading the growth and now account for almost 45% of all U.S. softwood exports. A weak dollar, low domestic prices and strong global economy are spurring the increase. August softwood exports were 33% higher than July with total exports for the first eight months of 2007 up 17% over the same period last year.

Softwood lumber imports into the United States, meanwhile, are down due to poor U.S. domestic markets, high log costs and unfavorable exchange rates. Total year-to-date imports are down 20% and could end the year 30% lower than the peak in 2005. In comparison, Southern Pine exports are expected to be down by 14% over the same period.

Southern Pine mills exported 41.7 million board feet (MMbf) in August. Top destinations for Southern Pine lumber are the Dominican Republic, the Bahamas, Mexico, Jamaica, the Leeward/Windward Islands and Spain. Countries whose softwood imports into the United States dropped the most included Sweden, Austria and Germany.

For more information contact Wade at 504/443-4464, ext. 217, or e-mail him at wcamp@sfpa.org.

Traditional Builders Great Audience for Southern Pine

SFPA staff members promoted Southern Pine special products, Raised Floor Living and the environmental benefits of using Southern Pine at the Traditional Building Exhibition and Conference in New Orleans last week. It was an important audience, since most of the attendees are involved with preservation and renovation projects. 

“The majority of conversations revolved around using Southern Pine special products for flooring, moulding and trim applications,” said SFPA Director of Industrial Markets Russell Richardson. “Those I visited with came from various geographic locations ranging from the New Orleans area and much of the Southeastern region up to New York and along the East Coast.”

Russell reports that a good number of people at the exhibition were familiar with raised floor systems and used it in many of their projects. “Based on some of the discussions I had, I got the impression we should place emphasis on support knowledge for builders and contractors,” he said. “Managers and owners understand the raised floor system, but they need help educating their work forces to build the systems. Once the learning curve is overcome, they will be able to build raised floors in mass.” 

Also staffing the Southern Pine Council exhibit were Cathy Kaake, SFPA’s director of engineered and framing markets, and Sarah Materne of The Ehrhardt Group, the agency that assists SPC with its Raised Floor Living campaign. Sarah distributed media kits with SPC’s various messages along with product information to representatives of about a dozen media outlets attending the event. 

“This was an effective show,” Russell said.  “It gave us an opportunity to gain exposure with a variety of consumers of Southern Pine products and disseminate marketing and product information.”

SPC, Raised Floors Represented at BCMC

The annual Building Component Manufacturers Conference, which showcases suppliers from the structural building components industry, drew 2,098 attendees and exhibitors recently in Columbus, Ohio. Southern Pine was represented at BCMC 2007 by SFPA Director of Engineered and Framing Markets Cathy Kaake, who staffed a Southern Pine Council display at the three-day event. Cathy promoted the benefits of using Southern Pine lumber for roof and floor trusses. SPC’s finger-jointed stud display also drew attention from component manufacturers who produce wall panels and gave Cathy an opportunity to discuss new heat resistant adhesives. 

“Component manufacturers continue to be an important audience for Southern Pine lumber producers,” Cathy said.  “BCMC 2007 provided us an opportunity to explain SPC's raised floor marketing program, which is finally catching the attention of more and more component manufacturers.” During a conversation with a component manufacturer and a builder, Cathy reported the builder told a story about how a woman recently asked him to build her a raised floor foundation because she doesn't want to live in a slab house. “He tried to talk her out of a raised floor foundation, but the woman was adamant, citing all of the main benefits we point out in our raised floor advertising. So the builder asked, somewhat jokingly, for us to please stop our promotional campaign.  The component manufacturer, on the other hand, was delighted to learn of the opportunity we were creating to increase his floor truss sales.”

While at the BCMC, Cathy also participated in a quarterly chapter meeting of the Mid-South Component Manufacturers Association. MSCMA represents manufacturers in Louisiana and Mississippi.  

Help SFPA Gather Important Data

Southern Pine sawmill operators who haven’t already done so are encouraged to participate in SFPA’s annual grade and size survey. The compiled results provide industry managers and analysts Southern Pine shipment volume by dimension, grade and region. Download the survey at www.sfpa.org or contact Wade Camp for a copy at 504/443-4464, ext. 217, or wcamp@sfpa.org.

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