Blog

New Residential Sales in August 2015

October 2015

Sales of new single-family houses is once again on the rise for August 2015. With a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 552,000, according to the U.S Census Bureau and the Department of Housing and Urban Development. This is a 21.6% increase from August 2014 and a 5.7% increase from the revised July rate of 522,000.

Canadian Lumber Production Increases

October 2015

lumberCanadian Lumber produced 2.2 billion board feet in July 2015, bringing up the year-to-date total to 15.4 billion board feet. This is a 6% increase from the previous year. The provinces that saw the most gain were Alberta, up 8% to 2.3 billion board feet, and Quebec, up 5% to 3.2 billion board feet.

Such a Diva

September 2015

Diva

Despite its name, you will never have to worry about this color being difficult to work with. Our newest addition to our Edgewood collection matches Formica’s White Ash (8841-WR) as well as Flakeboard’s Diva (375). Diva is a modern take on classic white, with subtle metallic streaking this color would brighten up any kitchen space leaving even the most diva-like customers satisfied.

Proposed Hardwood Checkoff Program

August 2015

The USDA is once again seeking public comments on amendments made for the Hardwood Checkoff Program. The program was initially proposed in November, 2013 as a collective research and marketing effort funded by lumber producers with financial oversight, implementation, and enforcement conducted by a 28 member board run by industry owners and employees. The proposed program would highlight a single commodity, hardwood, and create a promotional campaign to increase the sales of US produced hardwood. Similar programs started by the USDA include the campaigns such as “Got Milk”, “Beef, It’s What’s for Dinner” and “Pork, the Other White Meat”.

With the newest revisions to the program that clarify export and domestic sales would be included for eligible products and changing the voting procedures for the programs participants the USDA has started to move forward following the public comments period.

Under the Hardwood Checkoff Program the funding would be from sawmill operators and kiln drying yards with annual sales greater than $2 million will be assessed $1 for every $1,000 in sales. Plywood mills with more than $10 million in annual production will pay $3 per $1,000 of production.

For more information on the Hardwood Checkoff Program please visit: Harwood Checkoff Program   and No Hardwood Checkoff Program

New Residential Sales Increase for June 2015

August 2015

Sales of new single-family houses were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 482,000 and compared to June 2014 this was an increase of 18.1 percent. However June 2015 sales were 6.8% below the revised May 2015 rate of 517,000. The seasonally adjusted estimate of new houses for sale at the end of June was 215,000, representing a supply of 5.4 months at the current sales rate. For more information please visit US Census Bureau.

Expected Remodeling Growth in 2016

August 2015

With a recent increase in US residential home sales, there is an expected 4% increase in US residential remodeling spending for the first quarter in 2016 according to the Leading Indicator of Remodeling Activity (LIRA) released by the Remodeling Futures Program at the Joint Center for Housing Studies of Harvard University. The second quarter of 2015 experienced a 4.3% increase to $144.7 billion compared to the $138.7 billion spent during the same time period of 2014.

“Other signals of strengthening remodeling activity include sustained growth in retail sales of home improvement products and ongoing gains in house prices across much of the country,” says Abbe Will, a research analyst in the Remodeling Futures Program at the Joint Center.  “Rising home prices means rising home equity, which should encourage improvement spending by a growing number of owners.” (http://www.jchs.harvard.edu/)

The LIRA is published quarterly and is designed to estimate national homeowner spending on improvements for the current quarter and subsequent three quarters.

Expected-Remodeling-Growth-in-2016

References:

“Pick-Up Projected in Home Improvement Activity Moving into 2016.” (Press Release from the Joint Center for Housing Studies, Harvard University). Web. 30 July 2015.

Amending the Lacey Act

August 2015

Amending-the-Lacey-ActThe Lacey Act of 1990 was the first US conservation law

which prohibits trade wildlife, plants and plant products that have been obtained illegally or traded in violation of the laws of a foreign nation. The Lacey Act has come under scrutiny again with the reintroduction of the Freedom from Over- Criminalization and Unjust Seizures Act of 2015 (FOCUS Act) by U.S. Senator Rand Paul and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell. They aim to remove any reference to foreign laws in the Lacey Act and substitute the criminal penalties with civil penalties. For more information on the Lacey Act visit: US Fish and Wildlife Services  For more information on the FOCUS Act

visit: https://www.congress.gov/

Completing the spectrum

August 2015

Completing-the-spectrum

Back in January 2014 we introduced White and Dark Chocolate to our collection of 3D laminates. Over the past year and a half the demand for these two designs has increased exponentially, so much so that we are now offering a new color, Milk Chocolate. This new design is a perfect compromise between white and dark resulting in a beautiful milk chocolate color perfect for any job. This new design matches Tafisa’s Milk Chocolate TFL (L493).

If you would like to order samples of Milk Chocolate please contact us

Introducing: Memento

August 2015

Introducing-MementoWith an increase in demand for more modern and unique designs, Synergy Thermal Foils is now offering a new design: Memento. Memento offers the look of distressed, barn wood without the time and hassle of producing distressed wood. Memento works great as a single vanity piece or as kitchen cabinets and with its subtle white and silver design it matches stainless steel appliances and a variety of color schemes. This 3D thermal foil matches Uniboards melamine H76 Memento and would be perfect for any project size.

Click here to request a sample of memento!

AWFS Fair Deals a Full House for Synergy Thermal Foils

August 2015

AWFS-Fair-Deals-a-Full-House-for-Synergy-Thermal-FoilsWe just returned from the sold-out AWFS Fair where we rolled the dice and displayed at our own exhibit booth in Las Vegas for the first time.

Boy, are we ever glad we did!

Show organizers say more than 10,500 wood products professionals registered to attend the show. That’s a whopping 15% increase from the 2013 show!

We entertained a steady stream of woodworkers at our booth over the four days of the show. They seemed genuinely enthused to learn more about what Synergy Thermal Foils has to offer, especially our matching American 3D laminate (3DL) programs for thermally fused laminates (TFL) and high pressure laminates (HPL).

One of our new products that generated the most buzz was Memento 3DL. It matches Uniboard’s Memento (H67), a TFL featuring Uniboard’s Rio texture. We learned at the show, that KML will soon be carrying Memento as a new addition to its Edgewood TFL collection to serve west coast customers. Our Memento is also a perfect match with Lamitech’s Rustico HPL (1464).

Another new product that drew a lot of attention was our Milk Chocolate 3DL that matches the Milk Chocolate TFL (L493) made by Tafisa, another one of our Canadian partners. Milk Chocolate is a new design flavor of teak and is part of Tafisa’s Urbania textured TFL collection.

We’ve got our work cut out following up to all of the inquiries we received at our booth. Needless to say, we already plan to be back – in our own booth – at the AWFS Fair in 2017!

New Residential Sales increase in July 2015

July 2015

New data released by the U.S Census Bureau and the Department of Housing and Urban Development estimates that the sale of new single-family houses in July 2015 were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 507,000. This is a 25.8% increase from July 2014 and a 5.4% increase from the revised June 2015 sales.

Woodworkers Explore Synergy Thermal Foils’ Display at IWF 2014

September 2014

More than 14,000 woodworkers from throughout North America and beyond came to the 2014 International Woodworking Fair (IWF) in Atlanta to explore nearly 450,000 net square feet of woodworking machinery and supplies.

event syn 2014Synergy Thermal Foils was one of the 920 exhibiting companies and we were more than ready for the crush of next wave of discoverers. Our booth highlighted several new 3D laminates (3DL) paying homage to great New World explorers like Christopher Columbus, Henry Hudson and Meriwether Lewis.

Our ode to Columbus included Santa Maria a 3DL match for Funder America’s Santa Maria Maple thermally fused laminate (TFL) (#215) and Lab Designs Clark high pressure laminate (HPL) (#215T).  We also launched Nina Maple a match for Lab Designs’ Nina HPL (#224).

We think our booth visitors quickly discovered that Hudson  goes nicely with TFL Hudson panels offered by KLM (KMD #7342) and Funder (#222). With Lewis Cherry 3DL, we paid homage to Meriwether Lewis of Lewis & Clark fame; it’s a great match with many leading TFL products including Flakeboard Ankara Cherry (#WF236), Funder Lewis Cherry (#214), KML Lewis Cherry, Lab Designs Lewis Cherry (#214), Roseburg Chocolate Cherry (#207) and Uniboard Choco Cherry (#207).

One other new product we were proud to showcase at IWF was Shark Grey Gloss a cool contemporary color that caught the designer’s eye of many of our booth visitors. It’s quickly risen to our third best-selling gloss color after white and black.

Of course these new 3DLs barely hint at the full range of products that Synergy Thermal Foils stocks for quick delivery.

We invite you to explore our website to learn more not only about our 3DLs, but 2DLs, deco foils and light weight basis papers.