Housing Trends Buoy Custom, Green Wood Products
Housing Trends & Impacts on Wood Products Manufacturing

Housing Trends Buoy Custom, Green Wood ProductsPRINCETON, WV - Wood products manufacturers involved in the housing construction market continue to swing toward customization and green building material, while increasing their focus on new customers and sales channels, versus the existing customer base for sales volume.

These trends are among those revealed in “Housing Trends & Impacts on Wood Products Manufacturing,” a new study conducted by the USDA Forest Service, Virginia Tech’s Department of Sustainable Biomaterials and Wood & Wood Products magazine.

According to the survey, wood products manufacturers are turning more often to “face-to-face” contact as well as social media for interacting with new and existing customers. With regards to their customer base, respondents noted a high demand for customized production, or made-to-order products, with 67 percent of the respondents noting that 80 percent of their overall product mix in 2011 could be classified as custom or mass-customized.

In addition, respondents said they continue to be domestically focused, with 87 percent indicating that a majority of sales in 2012 would result from domestically produced and/or sourced items. Imports, however, continue to factor in the equation. Similar to last year, 18 percent indicated that they had increased the use of wood imports in their product line.

Read the "Housing Trends & Impacts on Wood Products Manufacturing" Study

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