Due to declining construction investment amid the ongoing government intervention to curb rising house prices and cool down the overheated housing market, South Korea’s housing starts for 2018 decreased 16% to 81,300 buildings and… more
BC softwood lumber export volume to South Korea in 2018 decreased by 18.5% to 205,228 cubic metres as compared to 251,992 cubic metres in 2017.
Several reasons contribute to this downward trajectory. First, BC Coastal shipments continue to… more
The construction of a three-storey multiple-dwelling wood in-fill wall demo house, which was carried out through the technical support from Canada Wood Korea, was completed in March 2019. Before the Korean Acoustical Code regulations on… more
The 20th KWCA-WUC Architect-Inspector Training sponsored by Canada Wood Korea began on April 6. This training is an annual session targeted at professionals including builders, architects and structural engineers to prepare them with the… more
For the first time, the certification of the 5-Star Construction Quality and Korea Super-E® program were combined and three houses received the certifications for their superior construction quality and energy efficiency… more
Canada Wood has been working on gathering manufacturing partners of Midply panels and making a list of Midply dealer network. We had seminars and held workshops about Midply last fiscal year and understood what kinds of support or… more
Recently Kevin Bews (COFI, SPF Group) and I visited a large-scale platform-frame construction job site on Ishigaki Island, Okinawa Prefecture, a tropical island similar to Hawaii. Due to an increase in tourism, from both overseas and… more
Nursing Home Himawari is in Yokohama city, about an hour drive south of Tokyo. Construction for this project began in February 2018 and is on schedule to be completed and open in May 2019. It is a large 180 room senior multi-care complex… more
Demand for non-residential wooden buildings has shown significant growth in Japan over the past several years. This trend is apparent with educational facilities. For example, in Uozu City, Toyama Prefecture, a new wooden school building… more
At the start of the fiscal new year in April, Japan’s Chief Cabinet Secretary proclaimed the name of a new era. The current “Heisei” era under the Japanese calendar will end on April 30th when the Emperor abdicates the throne. On… more
China’s economy continued to slow in 2019, with Q1 GDP growth at 6.4%, compared to 6.6% in 2018. However, the growth is slightly higher than market expectations. This is attributed to higher factory production, which has benefited from… more
Canada Wood China (CW China) published the book, Guidelines for Modern Timber Structure Construction – Building Technology, in April 2019. The book, targeting China’s property developers and architects, helps key companies and… more
Nail-Laminated Timber (NLT) floor panels passed a fire resistance test in Beijing in March 2019. The results exceded expectations and will help lead to new applications in mass timber buildings and advancement in China’s fire… more
An annual Sino-Canada meeting on modern wood construction was held in Beijing on March 5, 2019, summarizing the development of wood frame construction (WFC) in China to better promote the practices of green building.
The meeting,… more
Canada Wood China (CW China) released the Tracking Wood Project Starts Report with the goal of helping the wood construction industry better understand developments and trends in the China market.
The report provides statistics of new wood… more
According to trade data sourced from China Customs, China imported 36.8 million cubic metres of lumber in 2018, a slight decline of 1.6 percent from 2017. Of total lumber imports, softwood lumber accounted for 24.9 million cubic metres, a… more
Total non-residential construction for 2018 declined 3.5% by number of buildings to 55,220 units or by floor area by 2.1% to 39,772,196m2. The number of wooden units fell by 2.9% and floor area declined 3.5% to 3,768,354m2. Overall market… more
In 2018 total housing starts declined 2.2% to 942,370 units. Wooden housing fell 1.1% to 539,394 units. As a percentage of overall housing, wooden homes increased to 57.2%, the strongest showing in over three decades. Of all housing, post… more
January housing starts peaked out a 1.1% increase to finish at 67,087 units, but for wooden construction cheery news was in short supply. Owner occupied housing increased 3.3% for the 4th consecutive monthly gain, but rental housing… more
On a recent trip to Japan, B.C. Minister of State for Trade, the Honourable George Chow visited a wooden elderly care facility in Tokyo with COFI and Canada Wood staff on March 18th. While touring the site, the minister was introduced to… more
