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– With effect from 3 August 2011, the British media concern and trade-fair and exhibition organiser United Business Media plc (UBM) took over International Business Events Limited (IBE), which organises the construction trade fair Ecobuild, through its business division UBM Built Environment (all headquartered in London). The sale price is made up of a cash payment of £31m and a result-dependent component of up to £20m to be paid within the next twelve months. Ecobuild will be integrated into the UBM Built Environment division.
This year’s event, which was held from 1 to 3 March in London, generated turnover of £9.4m, meaning that the fair has shown annual turnover growth averaging 54% since 2007. Exhibitors at this year’s fair numbered roughly 1,300 and their products and services were shown on an area of 64,000 m². Visitor numbers were quoted at 55,000. However, trade visitors from the timber sector expressed their disappointment that the fair had increasingly developed into a public trade fair in comparison to the 2010 event. The proportion of trade visitors has declined accordingly. In addition, only a few suppliers of wood products were represented and the focus tended to be on insulation and heating systems.
Ecobuild started in 2005 with 50 exhibitors and 1,000 visitors. According to David Levin, CEO of UBM, the fair is to be doubled in terms of space and exhibitor numbers in the course of the next four years.
Ecobuild 2012 will be held from 20 to 22 March at London’s Excel fair venue. In Great Britain, UPM organises not only the Ecobuild fair but also, inter alia, the “Interiors Birmingham” furnishings fair (22 to 25 January 2012) and the RESI property fair. UBM also organises construction fairs in Brazil and India.
In July 2009, UBM took over the US-American company Risi Inc., Bedford, Massachusetts, which publishes business information for the forestry, timber and paper industries. Among UBM’s other publications are the property magazine “Property Week” and the building magazines “Building” and “Building Design”. The concern showed turnover growth in the first half of 2011 of 9.1% to £474m (Jan.-June 2010: 434.3m) and a rise in operating profit of 8.4% to £72.6m (67m), while profit after tax was up by 12.5% to £55.8m (49.6m) and profit per share by 9.6% to 20.5 (18.7) pence. UBM boasts a total work force in more than 30 countries of roughly 6,000.
On 27 and 28 September 2011, Timber Expo Ltd., Shrewsbury, England, will stage the “Timber Expo” for the first time. The venue will be Coventry and the fair will feature suppliers of wood products. Market participants estimate that Timber Expo could replace “Interbuild” for the timber-products sector, a fair organised by Emap Connect, London, which was cancelled on account of insufficient exhibitor interest. Interbuild was originally scheduled to be held from 16 to 19 October 2011 in Birmingham.
31.08.2011
Roundwood/Sawnwood
- Prices for eastern Siberian larch lumber remain largely stable in August despite holiday season
- 10 % reduction registered in Russian lumber exports
- Felling in Russia in July 2011 lower than in June
- Northwest Russian spruce lumber continues to lose market shares within Central Europe
- Latvian roundwood exports increased by as much as 26.1%
- Felling practically no longer hampered by forest fires
- Finland: Growth recorded in softwood lumber output until June
- United Business Media takes over Ecobuild
- Finland: Log deliveries still below last year‘s level
- Softwood lumber shipments down in North America in the second quarter
- Further growth in softwood lumber output until March
- Brisk demand for logs keeping price situation largely stable in Austria
- Hardwood lumber markets in UNECE revived slightly in 2010
- Lumber exports recovered in second quarter 2011
- Structural panels production declined again in Q2
Wood products
Wood-based panels
- Latvian plywood exports still higher than this time in 2010
- Demand for radiata pine plywood bounces back slightly after summer holidays end
- FFIF: Finnish plywood output grew again
- North American OSB manufacturers enjoy significant increase in exports
- North American composite panels producers‘ capacity utilisation rates stay low
- Slowdown in deliveries continued in second quarter
- GreCon wood-based panels seminar in Hanover
- Demand for MDF/HDF has undergone slight post-holiday revival since mid-August
- IHD Dresden holding ninth wood-based panels colloquium
- Summer reductions push OSB prices below last year‘s level again
- Slump in German particleboard exports persists
Furniture
- Demand for bathroom furniture remained brisk in July/August
- Fittings manufacturers anticipate possible renewed downturn in export markets
- VdDK members‘ order value up 5% in first half-year 2011
- Kitchen furniture industry sales 6% up on last year until June
Building products
Construction
- Housing construction again shows satisfactory trend
- Japan: Residential building increases by 5.8 % in June
Trade
Companies
- Lammhults: Office furniture segment improves turnover
- Slovenian furniture producer Javor Pohištvo bankrupt
- Javor Group: Another subsidiary files for bankruptcy
- Alno granted initial loan of €3m by Müller‘s Comco
- Forte enjoys strong growth in Q1 revenues and profits
- Eggerath: Business operations continue with work force of 60
- Kinnarps Deutschland bundles production in Worms
- Looser: Results forecast for 2011 corrected downwards
- Klostermann Küchen still up and running for time being
- Lowe’s: Turnover and result stabilising again
- Home Depot recovers again in the second quarter
- BlueLinx: Downward trend continues in Q2
- Temple-Inland: Timber business continues to operate at a loss
- IP: Take-over offer now extended until September
- Metsäliitto: Paper activities impose a strain on result
- Start-up in Braviken imposes strain on Holmen result
- Kurekss new sawing line starts up in fourth quarter
- Södra: Fire causes stop in production at Mönsterås
- Lafarge divests itself of gypsum operations in Asia
- Delignit: Results back in the black in first half of 2011
- Rougier books slowdown in revenue growth
- Pfleiderer Grajewo improves result again
- Gascogne records increased turnover in the first half year
- Uzin Utz shows further growth in turnover and result
- Roseburg to close two plants in South Carolina
- Resopal improves turnover by 17% in first six months
- Raute back in the black in the second quarter