Most of the 500+ workers at Nippon Dynawave Packaging's Longview, Wash. mill will return on Oct. 12, more than four months after the May 26 white-liquor tank collapse that killed 11. There is still no restart date. The mill is test-running its paper machines on purchased pulp and has started dismantling damaged equipment. Pay for workers not yet recalled now runs to Jan. 17, and the state L&I investigation findings are expected Nov. 20 (Spokesman-Review)
UPM Nordland Papier is rolling out John Crane's Smartflow IG seal-water regulators across its Dörpen mill in Germany after a pilot cut seal-water use to almost zero. The device can save up to 180 L of freshwater per hour per pump without external energy or automation. The mill already runs at about 4 m³ of freshwater per tonne of paper (PULPAPERnews)
Update: The European Commission has sent UPM and Sappi a Letter of Facts saying it still has concerns about their European graphic paper JV. The partners are preparing a response and will put forward remedy proposals. They now expect a decision at the end of 2026 or shortly after (PULPAPERnews)
Forestry & Timber
Adeptus USA will invest ~US$215.6M to convert the former Belton Industries textile plant in Honea Path, S.C. (Anderson County) into a pine-products plant. It will make moulding, boards, shiplap and panels and create 217 jobs averaging about $36/hr. Operations are due to start in mid-2027, backed by an $850,000 state building grant and job tax credits (Fordaq, SC Daily Gazette via News From The States)
Native forest logging is an issue in Victoria's November election. One Nation has pledged to restart it, using a self-funding selective-harvest model, "local wood first" procurement and origin labelling, but has not costed the plan. The Liberal–National Coalition also backs a return and is finalising its policy. Labor, which ended native logging in January 2024 and spent A$1.5B on worker transition, is opposed (ABC News, Timberbiz)
On Oct. 3, 25 U.S. states asked the Court of International Trade to strike down the "forced labor" tariffs, calling them "blatantly pretextual." These tariffs include the 10–12.5% duties on hardwood plywood and wooden tables. Separately, Democrats introduced a bill to repeal the 1930 trade-law authority behind the 50% duties on Canadian panels and paper (Wood Central)
A court in Chita, Russia, sentenced two Chinese traders to eight years each for smuggling 9,500+ m³ of illegally harvested Siberian timber, worth 190M+ roubles, to China by rail through Zabaykalsk using falsified documents (Wood Central)
Industry Technology Vendors
Voith — Launched NipDynamics on Oct. 5. Ultra-thin, heat-resistant sensors are built into paper-machine roll covers and wirelessly stream live 3D nip-pressure profiles at full speed, so mills can catch misalignment and cover problems earlier. It has been field-proven on European MG cylinders, reel drums and tissue pressure rolls, and one customer documented ~€45,000 in savings (EuropaWire)
