Snavely rolls out plans for Perennial Wood transition

Pittsburgh-based Snavely Forest Products said it’s not going to let the “modified” lumber movement lose its momentum.

In response to Eastman Chemical’s recent announcement that it would cease the manufacturing of Perennial Wood products -- the trade name for acetylated wood -- Snavely Forest Products announced today that it will continue to market the high-performance decking product.  

Snavely Forest Products has been actively marketing Perennial Wood, acetylated wood products, with launches in North and South Carolina in 2012 and Maryland, Virginia, Pennsylvania and Delaware in 2013. 

“I have never seen a product launch as successful as Perennial Wood,” said Clark Spitzer, VP marketing for Snavely. “The market is ready for this new technology, and we believe that acetylated wood is the next big thing in our product line.”

Spitzer said Snavely will continue to supply the market with Perennial Wood through the first quarter of 2014. There is sufficient acetylated wood in the channel to supply the market well beyond that time frame. The company added that it is confident that it will execute its plan to transition from Perennial Wood to a new supply without any significant disruption to the dealer network.

“We have no intention of abandoning this new technology and have opened discussions with a world leader in the development and commercialization of acetylated wood products,” Spitzer added. 

As previously reported, Eastman said its Perennial Wood was well received in the market, but strategic and financial decisions factored into the decision to discontinue it.

“The product was performing well, and we had growing adoption in the marketplace,” said Tim Dell, VP innovation, marketing and sales at Eastman. “The decision to exit the business was not made because of product performance or market acceptance. When it came down to really understanding the costs associated with production, the economics were challenging and it was going to take too long to see meaningful earnings for our shareholders.”