International Paper confirmed on Oct. 15 that it is evaluating unsolicited bids for its EMEA Packaging business (operating as DS Smith, 30 countries) in parallel with the planned spin-off, which it said a day earlier would be a London Stock Exchange listing with an NYSE Level II ADR. The FT names private-equity firms Lone Star and Atlas Holdings as the remaining bidders; IP shares rose more than 7%, talks are "early stage," the separation is still targeted for early 2027 and a DS Smith Capital Markets Day is set for Nov. 3 (PaperAge, Packaging Dive)
Sixteen contractors at WestRock's Covington, Va. mill were taken to hospital after reporting nausea and mild symptoms around 5 p.m. on Oct. 14; all were treated and released the same evening. The source is undetermined and under investigation, and WestRock says mill operations were not affected and there is no threat to public safety (WSLS, WDBJ7)
UPM inaugurated its €1.37B Leuna, Germany biorefinery on Oct. 15 — 220,000 t/yr of industrial sugars and lignin-based biochemicals via enzymatic hydrolysis, fed by beech thinnings and sawmill residues sourced within ~200 km. Production began in December 2025 and UPM is now ramping up sales (PaperAge)
KaMin and CADAM will raise kaolin prices by up to 9.5% effective Dec. 1, 2026, varying by grade and region, citing higher mining, energy, labor and ocean-freight costs — a cost headwind for coated paper and board mills (Paper Advance)
U.S. Customs has imposed interim measures on three importers (Teh Tung, Acadian Crossing Consumer Products, Verde Winsight) suspected of transshipping Chinese thermoformed molded-fiber products through Malaysia to evade AD/CVD duties (EAPA Case 8308, opened Sept. 9); final determinations are due by Mar. 30, 2027. The American Molded Fiber Coalition (USW, Genera, Tellus Products) welcomed the action (PULPAPERnews)
Forestry & Timber
New Forests' ANZ Landscapes and Forestry Fund (with Allianz as co-investor) has agreed to buy AKD's 57 radiata pine plantations — more than 13,000 ha across Victoria, South Australia and NSW (Green Triangle, Ballarat/Otways, Murray Valley, Central Tablelands). AKD keeps its four sawmills and will buy sawlogs and pulp logs from the estate under supply agreements; price undisclosed, ACCC review runs to late November (Wood Central, Timberbiz)
Greenpeace says 4,174 m³ was clear-felled from a 170-year-old beech stand inside a Natura 2000 site at Rusca Montană, Romania, and traced the contractor to a supplier of IKEA maker Masifpanel; Inter IKEA disputes the old-growth claim and says harvesting was permitted. FSC has registered a formal complaint and certifier Soil Association will assess the parcel on site (Wood Central)
Norwegian spruce and pine sawlog prices fell further in September despite strong demand from European sawmills and rising softwood-log exports, with harvesting still near record levels; separately, European wood-industry associations are preparing joint EUDR demands for Brussels as the December deadline approaches (GWMI, GWMI)
Sumitomo Forestry will sell Mazex's new "Keisuke" forestry transport drone (same payload as the Morihi 25 but ~64% smaller footprint, hot-swappable battery pairs) through its own network after moving 40,000 seedlings in steep-slope trials in Shikoku (Timberbiz)
Co-generation & Mill Energy
West Biofuels is exploring a 3 MW wood-chip gasification plant producing heat, power and biochar in Quincy, Calif. — ~25,000 bone-dry tons/yr from ~2,500 treated acres, enough for ~3,000 homes — as part of Plumas County's biofuel opportunity zone around the former Louisiana-Pacific site at Crescent Mills, where Mosaic Timber is building a CLT plant. A county assessment puts available feedstock at 255,000 BDT/yr; an earlier 3 MW plant in Quincy closed over chip costs (Plumas Sun)
Wood Pellets
Vietnam's Tây Sơn Biomass (TSB Group) has commissioned a greenfield pellet plant on two Andritz BioMax pellet mills (a third planned) running 11–12 t/h each, supplying a long-term offtake with a Japanese power generator and EN Plus exports to Europe; TSB manages 160,000+ ha of forest and targets 400,000 ha by 2030, against Vietnam's 7M t/yr pellet capacity (Andritz)
Industry Technology Vendors
Andritz — French agricultural cooperative Deshyouest (~1,500 farmers) has replaced a 1982 pellet press with an Andritz PM30-6 pellet mill at its dehydration plant, which Andritz says delivers ~10% more capacity at the same energy use; it has run seven months on alfalfa and three on wood, with maize next (Bioenergy Insight)
