Forestry & Timberland

Fruit Farming

USDA forecasts Florida orange production at 44.5 million boxes for the 2021-2022 season, down 1.5 million boxes from December forecast; Florida grapefruit projection remains at 4.1 million boxes
Fresh Plaza (01/14)

Animal Farming/ Meat Production

Danish Crown lowers prices to its pig farmers by DKK0.30/kg to DKK8.10/kg, cites outbreak of swine fever in northern Italy
M-Brain Nordic News (01/14)

Greenhouse/Urban/Vertical Farming

Bowery Farming announces plans to open a smart indoor vertical farm in Locust Grove, Georgia, creating more than 100 jobs in Henry County
The Griffin Daily News (01/14)

Land

John Burns Consulting: Homebuilders are ramping up land holdings, and doing so in a way that protects them in downturn; all 18 public homebuilders control more lots than one year ago, with public homebuilder lot control up 36% in 2021 to 2.02 million lots
John Burns Real Estate Consulting LLC (01/14)

Oriented Strand Board (OSB)

CIBC: Mid-week update published Jan. 12 shows supply shortages push wood prices higher, with Western SPF up 3.6% from Jan. 7 to US$1,160/mbf, and SYP 2x4 up 5.4% to US$1,380/mbf; OSB prices up 4.0% to US$775/msf in North Central, up 5.9% in Western Canada
CIBC World Markets Inc. (01/14)

Lumber

Prices of goods used in US residential construction climb 1.5% in December, up 15.9% in 2021, driven by wood price increases; softwood lumber prices rise 24.4% in December, steel mill products gain 0.2%, ready-mix concrete up 0.9%, gypsum down 0.5%: NAHB
National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) (01/14)

Paper Pulp

BillerudKorsnas suspends production at Pietarsaari kraft- and sack paper mill in Finland, will temporarily lay off two thirds of mill's workers from Jan. 24; it cites strike at UPM, which supplies mill with pulp, steam, purified water, compressed air
M-Brain Nordic News (01/14)

Specialty Papers

Philippines' Forest Products Research & Development Institute explores use of lapnis fibers for conservation paper used in restoring, preserving important paper items; shrub's strength, long fibers make it a good alternative to imported conservation paper
Manila Bulletin (01/14)

Nordic Paper, Norbag, Paper Province, Karlstads Energi developing paper trash bag that will soon be tested in select households in Karlstad, Sweden, with goal to sell bag in stores this year; sealable paper bag simplifies handling, reduces plastic use
Nordic Paper AS (01/14)

Paperboard

Fisher International: Graphic Packaging’s US$600M investment in recycled paperboard line at Kalamazoo shows confidence in future with less single-use plastic packaging, aligns with moves by Google, Starbucks and Ikea to reduce plastic in their packaging
Fisher International Inc. (01/14)

Researchers use lignin up to 35 wt% to modify starch-based adhesive performance; data show lignin increases water-resistance of adhesive in paperboard, increase in adhesive strength if lignin is added to slurry but decrease in strength if added to carrier
ChemEngineering (01/14)

Green Building/Development

French architecture firm builds what it claims to be world’s first carbon-negative building using carbon-sequestering hemp; 4,000 sq. ft. Pierre Chevet sports hall was built using Hempcrete, which has insulation, acoustic, fire-resistant properties
Biofuels Digest (01/14)

Real Estate

Seasonally-adjusted US home sales fell 3.6% in December from November, while typical home sold in 24 days, 43% sold above list price; median home-sale price up 15.2% year-over-year to US$382,900 as number of homes for sale fell 18.9%: Redfin
Redfin Corp. (01/14)

Rail Cargo/Shipping

Top US ports reporting delayed shipments for medical supplies are Los Angeles/Long Beach, Savannah, New York/New Jersey, Charleston, Seattle, Oakland, Boston, Baltimore and Houston; average delay is 17 days at port, 11 days by rail, 9 days by truck: HIDA
Health Industry Distributors Assn. (HIDA) (01/14)

Maersk India developed 13 new weekly dedicated rail services in 2021, which showed up to 30% quicker transit times compared to road; company recorded 43% growth in export cargo movement on rail, 23% growth on rail for import and export combined
Maritime Gateway (01/14)

Trucking/Van Delivery

J.B. Hunt, Waymo expand partnership with goal to complete fully autonomous transport in Texas within next few years; companies completed first trial runs last year moving freight along I-45, upcoming pilot runs to take place in same lane
Business Wire (01/14)

California governor highlights US$2.3B allocated to support ports, build supply chain resilience; funds include US$1.2B for port-related projects to improve goods movement, projects for zero-emission port equipment, drayage trucks and infrastructure
Office of Gavin Newsom (01/14)

Logistics, Shipping & Delivery

Global air cargo demand in November 2021 up 3.7% from November 2019, down from 8.2% last month; governments advised to facilitate movement for air crew operations, restore international connectivity, provide incentives to tackle labor shortages: IATA
International Air Transport Association (IATA) (01/14)

ATA supports Supreme Court's rejection of OSHA's vaccine-or-test mandate for employers; association says industry can continue to deliver critical goods to help nation, economy recover from pandemic after stay of emergency temporary standard
PR Newswire (01/14)

Biotechnology

Minnesota custom injection molder VistaTek develops plant-based, plantable, compostable garden pot; PLA-based four-inch round pot being launched under Proven Winners' PW EcoPlus Grande line will be commercially available to growers, retailers this spring
J. Grande communications Inc. (01/14)

Latest: Jan, 14 2022