Smurfit Westrock will buy CMPC's Chilean containerboard and corrugated business for US$420M (under 6x post-synergy adjusted EBITDA, funded from existing liquidity): a ~250,000 tpy recycled containerboard mill in Santiago, a fibre-collection network, three corrugated plants and a moulded-tray plant, with closing expected in H1 2027 pending regulatory approval; the company plans to feed the mill with recycled fibre from Argentina, Peru and Ecuador and route Brazilian and North American kraftliner into the Chilean box plants (PaperAge, Fordaq)
Fedrigoni CEO and chairman Marco Nespolo will step down on Oct. 6 after nearly eight years to "pursue other opportunities," keeping his equity stake and a board seat; former SIG Group CEO Rolf Stangl becomes executive chairman the same day (Labels & Labeling)
Dutch cartonboard maker Solidus will raise prices by €75/t on all new orders in all markets from Oct. 1, citing energy, transport, raw-material and chemical cost inflation and margin pressure (EUWID)
Forestry & Timber
The US–Canada softwood dispute has reached third-country processors: US Customs agents spent four days at Auckland processor Hermpac after a US Lumber Coalition complaint and ruled that kiln-drying Canadian western red cedar in New Zealand is not a "substantial transformation," so the wood keeps Canadian origin and Canadian duties apply — the first confirmed NZ processor investigated under the US tariff regime (NZ ships ~NZ$380M/yr of timber products to the US, its third-largest market); GWMI adds that West Fraser faces a fresh US duty review (Global Wood Markets Info, B2B News NZ, Friday Offcuts)
EUDR: Delegated Regulation 2026/2102, in force since Sept. 19, removes used and second-hand timber products, reclaimed wood in new products, bamboo and rattan, empty once-used pallets, trade samples and accompanying paper packaging from the EUDR product list; new logs, sawn timber, panels, furniture, new pallets and sawmill chips/sawdust still need due diligence from Dec. 30, 2026 (smallest firms June 30, 2027) (Wood Central)
FPAC renewed its call (Sept. 24) for the EU to drop plot-level geolocation for low-risk countries and remove residuals and sawmill by-products from the list, warning of "tens of millions" in unnecessary costs — a single container can need tens of thousands of geolocation points — as the Canada/US/Japan/Australia/NZ coalition presses the same asks ahead of the Dec. 30 start; the EU imported US$115.89M of Canadian chips, sawdust, pellets and fuelwood last year (Wood Central)
J.P. Morgan Natural Capital and Paraguay's Grupo Robinson announced a ~US$200M forestry and wood-processing partnership at the Paraguay Investment Forum in New York (Sept. 24), covering commercial timber, domestically processed wood products, carbon credits and native-forest restoration, with capital deployment from early 2027 (Fordaq)
India ratified its FTA with New Zealand on Sept. 23, effective Oct. 20: more than 95% of forestry and wood products (currently facing 5.5–11% duties) enter India tariff-free immediately, the rest phasing out over seven years; NZ wood exports to India have tripled to NZ$193M in three years (logs NZ$122M) and NZ is pushing engineered wood and seasoned timber alongside logs (Wood Central)
Metsä Group rolled out fixed pricing for young-stand management across Finland in September, replacing matrix pricing: an AI model using satellite imagery, geospatial data and site history sets the final price before work starts, so contractors no longer measure removed stems for billing (Wood Supply and Forest Services: €2.5B 2025 sales) (PULPAPERnews)
At the Global Legal and Sustainable Timber Forum in Macao (Sept. 24; 800+ delegates from 49 countries), Xi Jinping pledged Chinese cooperation on forest conservation and "responsible timber trade"; the forum launched a Global Timber Index, an industry data platform and a blockchain traceability system, while Mozambique said it wants to renegotiate its forestry agreement with China (China imported US$16.3B of wood and wooden furniture in 2025, 61.3% of it from elevated-risk origins per economist Tyron Venn) (Wood Central)
UK housebuilder Vistry lifted timber-frame output 118% to 3,602 units in H1 2026 (4,643 in FY2025) and targets ~6,000 units this year from its three Vistry Works factories, citing ~six weeks' shorter build times and ~30% lower embodied carbon (Fordaq)
Carinthia's August reference prices put spruce/fir sawlogs at €121–125/fm (pine €80–90/fm) with spruce fibrewood at €84–95/AMM and chipped energy wood at €78–146/AMM; reduced sawmill output has tightened residues, pushing pulp and paper buyers toward industrial roundwood and firming energy-wood prices ahead of the heating season (Fordaq)
France abolished the AGRI-EQ-110 energy-savings-certificate (CEE) operation that subsidised hybrid solar wood drying, effective Sept. 24; previously engaged projects stay eligible only if listed with the energy ministry within 10 days of the Sept. 23 publication (~Oct. 2) (Fordaq)
Germany's DeSH, with GMOH, launched a free standardised risk-assessment template for member sawmills covering the log yard, sawing, sorting, drying, maintenance, loading and transport, with a webinar Oct. 1 (Fordaq)
Industry Technology Vendors
Andritz — Executive Board member Dietmar Heinisser, responsible for the Environment & Energy business area and Group Manufacturing Management and credited with growing the Paper Service business, resigned for personal reasons effective Sept. 21; CEO Joachim Schönbeck takes over his responsibilities until further notice (Andritz)
