New orders in May 2015 increased 5 percent over May 2014 orders and were up 5 percent over April, according to the latest survey of manufacturers and distributors by High Point accounting and consulting firm Smith Leonard. Last month, Smith Leonard noted that the 3 percent increase was impacted by early market dates in 2013. This year, the comparison was not that great in terms of dates of market.

Custom Cupboards is pleased to announce that a new door style and a new door and drawer front edge will be unveiled to dealers during a summer product launch later this month.

Wood flooring retailer Lumber Liquidators says bad publicity about its China-sourced laminate flooring kept customers away - with a decrease in sales of 5.8 percent as customers-invoiced fell 7.6 percent. The hardwood and laminate company lost $20.3 million on sales of $247.9 million.

UPS will acquire Coyote Logistics, a truckload freight brokerage company, for $1.8 billion. “The brokered full-truckload freight segment is a high growth market and we expect it will continue to outpace other transportation segments,” said David Abney, UPS CEO. UPS has been using Coyote for holiday season peak shipping,

Acute, long-term exposure to wood dust led to the death of a 55-year-old finish sander at a Montana cabinet shop, OSHA says. A recent inspection also found 21 serious safety that exposed workers to respiratory hazards, fire, explosion, and amputation. Oak Creations faces a $50,000 fine.

Trendway, a Holland, MI, manufacturer of office furnishings and related architectural elements, promoted Mark Kinsler to company president, succeeding Bill Bundy, who continues to lead the organization as CEO, and plans to retire in 2016.

Tiger Capital Group's Remarketing Services Division will auction Sure-Wood Forest Products 146,000-sq.-ft. wood moulding manufacturing plant in Chilhowie, Va., owned by American Forest Productscompany. Tiger is also in talks with potential turnkey buyers for the entire operation, which has been closed by AFP.

Biomass should get great recognition in EPA's newly released Clean Power Plan. The American Wood Council and American Forest & Paper Association issued a joint statement expressing concern that U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s plan overlooks "the unique energy benefits of using biomass residuals."

IKEA has acquired a forest in Romania, making that country the first fully integrated market for its production. An analysis shows IKEA will need to improve lumber yield dramatically to make its long term sales targets.

The Oregon Legislature has approved $29.7 million in state bonding to help fund the Oregon Forest Science Complex at Oregon State University in Corvallis. The lab will study and develop CLT cross laminated timber for high rise buildings, among other projects.