Pre-finished birch crisis

[Guilliaume woodworks]

What's the deal with the import pre-fin birch lately. Apparently a heavy tax was put on imported ply by the U.S. government which skyrocketed the price. Combined with calif. new lumber tax. But the price isn't my real problem. The ply I've been buying for years has recently been garbage. Out of the last few dozen sheets, half of them completely delaminated through out middle. I ripped into a sheet and hit a piece of metal,which I know isn't unusual for a small piece here and there, but this was a 1 1/2" long piece of a very large saw blade!  I returned a few of the delamed sheets to supplier and they were aware of the issues. They told me they were going to stop carrying import p.f. birch because its going to be as expensive as there domestic pre-fin maple which is far superior in quality. I called my other supplier who verified what I was told. Anybody else hear about this?

 

[SittingElf]

California has a lumber tax??? [huh]

What will Sacramento think of next. When I was living there in the 80's, I had a chain of computer retail stores from Ventura to L.A.. At that time, which was just after Prop 13, Sacramento tried to inflict an new business tax. They actually wanted to tax the amount of corporate Debt you had! So they wanted to levy taxes on borrowed money. [scared]

Love California, but can't take the Big Brother government there. Florida will work for me now. Not as pretty, but much more friendly!

 

[Guilliaume woodworks]

Yup, this year calif started a 1% tax on all wood & engineered wood products. 

 

[panelchat]

So far I've heard of matte knife blades, clumps of hair, blobs of dried up blood(!), bits of junk, and now a big piece of blade, in panels made in Ch***... plus huge delaminations...

Been buying sheet goods made in Canada or USA for 15 years now, off and on over the years, and seeing any such defects or hazards in these materials would be like seeing an alien on the front lawn...

 

[Stephen B]

Yup, this year calif started a 1% tax on all wood & engineered wood products.  

Try 10% Goods and Services Tax in Australia. Although most timber/hardware stores give 5-20 % discounts to tradespersons based on volume or nature of sale.

We are also getting import dumping in Australia. Until recently, the timber/hardware store I work at during the weekends was selling imported Swedish framing pine (milled in Poland) which was costing us less to purchase than the pine from a very large timber mill only 10 mins away. In the end the owners decided it was prudent to support the local product! Besides the local trades were complaining of 'kick back' with their Paslode nail guns with the imported product.

 

[Paul G]

Glad I ask for US or Canada ply, and will continue to do so now more than ever.

 

[Tim Morris]

My salesman warned me the first of the year this would be happening with the import pre-finished birch.

 

[Guilliaume woodworks]

My salesman warned me the first of the year this would be happening with the import pre-finished birch.

About the price increase or the quality? Or both? My supplier told me to prepare estimates using pre fin domestic maple because the import birch isn't going to be available .. This is not good news for small cabinet guys like myself who don't buy bulk plywood at discounted prices. Starting to get a little frustrated , I've seen competitors estimates and profits are becoming pretty tight. Few hundred here & a few hundred there.....I don't need to do any more jobs for practice!

 

[BUTTER]

My salesman warned me the first of the year this would be happening with the import pre-finished birch.

About the price increase or the quality? Or both? My supplier told me to prepare estimates using pre fin domestic maple because the import birch isn't going to be available .. This is not good news for small cabinet guys like myself who don't buy bulk plywood at discounted prices. Starting to get a little frustrated , I've seen competitors estimates and profits are becoming pretty tight. Few hundred here & a few hundred there.....I don't need to do any more jobs for practice!

Yes, nationally, there is a newer tariff on the imported Chinese plywood products that brings their price to something competitive with domestic producers.  Your competitors will be facing the same price increases on import material, too.  You will also have the opportunity  to tell your customers that you are going to use superior quality domestic materials that support American jogs and don't off-gas.

 

[peter halle]

What bothered me was that your supplier knew about the issues with the quality - and then continued to sell it.

Peter

 

[FulThrotl]

My salesman warned me the first of the year this would be happening with the import pre-finished birch.

About the price increase or the quality? Or both? My supplier told me to prepare estimates using pre fin domestic maple because the import birch isn't going to be available .. This is not good news for small cabinet guys like myself who don't buy bulk plywood at discounted prices. Starting to get a little frustrated , I've seen competitors estimates and profits are becoming pretty tight. Few hundred here & a few hundred there.....I don't need to do any more jobs for practice!

Yes, nationally, there is a newer tariff on the imported Chinese plywood products that brings their price to something competitive with domestic producers.  Your competitors will be facing the same price increases on import material, too.  You will also have the opportunity  to tell your customers that you are going to use superior quality domestic materials that support American jogs and don't off-gas.

before we start china bashing, can we pause for a moment so i can go first?  [smile]

something comes to mind about china.... remember the chinese drywall that outgassed sulfur?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chinese_drywall

while we all are annoyed at some segment or other of our government that regulates something
in a poor fashion, china isn't fettered with such difficulties. there isn't a whole lot of regulation
on what they do, or produce.

i'm an electrician, and since the chinese started making *everything* we seem to use,
i'd appreciate it if someone would teach them how to cut machine threads, and thread
rigid metal conduit. i swear to god there must not be a single thread gauge in china.

so much of the stuff i end up having to work with is just, pardon my opinion, garbage.

end of rant.

 

[WoodWhisperer]

What were u guys paying for the import stuff before the crisis??  I have been using U.S. pre-finished maple for yrs. because of the quality.  The last cabinet job I did I probably paid $75 a sheet!!! I have been lucky and have been able to pass the cost on to the customer [laughing].  But I know you cant always.  To me pre-finished maple looks better!!! IMO for what its worth?!!

 

[Jonhilgen]

Just got this email from Wurth Wood Group (large plywood provider here in the southeast).

Jon

 

[thebicyclecafe]

What were u guys paying for the import stuff before the crisis??  I have been using U.S. pre-finished maple for yrs. because of the quality.  The last cabinet job I did I probably paid $75 a sheet!!! I have been lucky and have been able to pass the cost on to the customer [laughing].  But I know you cant always.  To me pre-finished maple looks better!!! IMO for what its worth?!!

What grade veneer? I usually paid less than $60 for a C face veneer, and roughly $68 or so for a B grade, all domestic. Quality has been fairly good from Columbia, plus they use a formaldehyde free glue. The only import I will buy is Russian/Finnish Birch, but won't touch any Chinese product with a ten foot pole. Just look at the ply edges even before you even cut it....