Arbex, the new tissue joint venture between Suzano (51%) and Kimberly-Clark (49%), plans to cut 37 jobs at its Millicent, South Australia mill. The mill dates from 1960 and has about 400 staff and contractors. The cuts will come through voluntary separations, with the rationalisation due to finish by Easter 2027 (Timberbiz)
Italy's paper association Assocarta is asking for energy relief. It wants tax credits, release of €1B under the Dl Bollette decree, access to domestic gas and a temporary suspension of the EU ETS. Italian gas has gone from ~€30/MWh in February to above €80/MWh at times in September, and gas makes up 15–40% of mill operating costs. The sector covers 151 mills, 18,700 jobs and 7.8M t of 2025 output (EUWID)
Forestry & Timber
On Sept. 30, conservation groups and the Ketchikan Indian Community filed for a preliminary injunction against the 4 MMBF Shelter Cove sale on Revillagigedo Island in the Tongass. The sale is part of the 40,000+ acre South Revilla project, and bids open Oct. 20 (Center for Biological Diversity)
GOSSCO LLC has started logging a 5.9 MMBF, 920-acre fuels-reduction sale protecting Baker City, Oregon's 10,000-acre municipal watershed. Logs are going to Woodgrain (La Grande) and Boise Cascade (Elgin). The sale is part of a ~23,000-acre Forest Service project (Baker City Herald)
Wildsight reports that BC Timber Sales removed old-growth deferrals recommended by B.C.'s Technical Advisory Panel from ~100 ha of its 120 ha of Foster Creek blocks north of Revelstoke. BCTS then sold the blocks to a contractor in July. The area is Columbia North caribou habitat, and the plan would reactivate up to 30 km of road (Rossland Telegraph)
UK planting fell to 13,480 ha in the year to March, down from 15,690 ha and far below the 30,000 ha/yr target. Only ~5,000 ha were productive conifers, while the UK imports 81% of its wood. Forestry Commission chair Baroness Young and Confor's Stuart Goodall are calling for timber security to be treated like food security (Wood Central)
An alliance of 40 German farm and forestry groups wrote an open letter to Chancellor Merz. They ask for an immediate moratorium on new documentation and reporting duties, no national rules stricter than EU law, and a federal–state summit (Wood Central)
A&J Scott is expanding its Northumberland sawmill by ~40% to about 170,000 m³/yr under its "Mill 10" project (Global Wood Markets Info)
Co-generation at Mills
RYAM has started construction on the 70 MW Altamaha Green Energy biomass cogeneration plant next to its Jesup, Georgia cellulose mill. The plant will supply process steam to the mill, and Georgia Power is buying the power under a long-term PPA. The partners are Albioma and Beasley Group, with RYAM holding 14% (option to 16%). RYAM expects $8–10M/yr in distributions and ~$30M of avoided capex at Jesup, with commercial operation in 2029 (PaperAge)
A Delorean Corp. feasibility study for Opal's Maryvale mill in Victoria confirmed that a ~A$35M anaerobic digestion plant could turn mill byproducts and organic residues into biogas to replace natural gas in the rotary lime kiln. The project now moves to FEED, approvals and feedstock agreements ahead of a final investment decision (Timberbiz)
Wood Pellets
Pellet demand in New York's North Country is up threefold at Potsdam Agway and 65% across Triple A Building Center's three stores as heating fuel costs climb. Delivery surcharges of up to $300/truckload are squeezing dealer margins (WWNY)
Moore County, North Carolina became the state's first BDO Zone "A"-rated community for woody biomass. The rating covers 925,000 bone-dry t/yr within 75 miles of Robbins, made up of pulpwood, forest residues and sawmill residues, with the 73-acre Iron Horse Industrial Park pitched as an anchor site (Bioenergy Insight)
Ecostrat, New Energy Risk and Yilkins formed an alliance that bundles feedstock-supply insurance with technology-performance coverage. The aim is to make woody-biomass-to-energy and biocoal projects financeable (Bioenergy Insight)
Industry Technology Vendors
Valmet — Released DNAe v8.1 of its DCS/automation platform on Sept. 30. The release renews IEC 62443-3-3 ISASecure certification, adds built-in identity and access management with Active Directory login, and supports IEC 61850 and EtherNet/IP. It also adds an integrated PID-tuning tool with simulation, faster historian queries, multi-threaded controller execution, and an upgrade path from legacy Valmet DNA (Valmet)
Valmet — Selected by Strategic Biofuels to supply a CFB boiler island and flue-gas cleaning for Louisiana Green Fuels in Caldwell Parish. The 300+ MW gross plant will burn 3.5M+ t/yr of forestry residuals (~400 truckloads/day) and capture its CO₂ for storage (Bioenergy Insight)
Valmet — Completed the sale of its Flowrox peristaltic hose pump and progressive cavity pump business, including spares and service, to Metso on Oct. 1. The pumps will be rebranded Metso, while Valmet keeps the Flowrox brand and valve line (Valmet)
BTG — Named Emmanuel Rapendy President and CEO of the Voith Group subsidiary, effective Oct. 1. He comes from Sulzer Chemtech, where he was global head of polymer and crystallization, and succeeds interim CEO Rainer Rauch (PaperAge)
