Belarus has signed Decree No. 359 siting an 800,000 t/yr pulp mill at a former protein-feed plant in Novopolotsk (Vitebsk region), with funding expected from the Oman Investment Authority under the joint investment fund agreed in December; BelTA put the cost at ~US$1.4B while Lukashenko has called it "almost two billion." Only two of the decree's eight clauses are public and no construction timeline has been given (Wood Central)
B.C. Conservative candidate Bert Chen pledged up to C$10M to revitalize the closed Domtar Crofton pulp mill site if his party wins the Oct. 24 election, flagging that Crofton's drinking-water infrastructure sits on Domtar-owned mill land and the company's water commitment ends Dec. 31; North Cowichan says it cannot fund a municipal system after losing the mill's property taxes (Ladysmith Chronicle)
Q3 reporting week: Packaging Corporation of America reports Wednesday; Holmen, Norske Skog, Rottneros and The Navigator Company on Thursday; SCA on Friday. Natural Resources Institute Finland's September roundwood prices land Wednesday and StatCan's September IPPI (incl. lumber) Thursday (Lesprom)
Forestry & Timber
The New Zealand–India free trade agreement entered into force today: NZ logs, sawn timber and pulp that faced Indian tariffs of up to 11% now enter duty-free, covering more than 95% of NZ's NZ$193M/yr wood trade with India, with almost all remaining wood tariffs phased out over seven years. WPMA estimates exporters gain NZ$10M+/yr near term and MFAT models wood exports NZ$487M/yr higher by 2050 — the largest gain of any primary export; a second round of tariff cuts is due in January (Wood Central)
European wood-based panel producers face further capacity cuts, according to forecasts presented at the 14th European Wood-Based Panel Symposium in Hamburg (Oct. 14–16): weak demand, rising imports and high production costs threaten existing mills, and AFRY does not expect a meaningful recovery in Western European panel demand before late 2027, with a return to 2021 volumes possibly not until 2030 (GWMI)
Victoria's Liberal–National Coalition has pledged to double planned burning to 5% of treatable public land per year if it wins November's state election, a plan backed by the Victorian Forest Products Association (which also wants plantations treated as critical community assets in bushfire risk assessments); the state ran 270 burns over 92,473 ha in 2024–25, while the 2025–26 fires burned 440,000+ ha and damaged 10,000+ ha of HVP plantations (Wood Central)
China's anti-graft watchdog expelled Zhang Jianlong — founding head of the National Forestry and Grassland Administration (2018–2020), which sets harvest quotas and enforces the natural-forest logging ban — from the Communist Party on Oct. 19 and referred him for prosecution over bribes tied to forest-land occupation, special-fund approvals and wildlife permits; former deputy Li Chunliang received a life sentence in July and a third former official was placed under review Oct. 16 (Wood Central)
German OSB output rose 8.5% year-on-year to 344,003 m³ in Q2, its first quarter above 300,000 m³ (EUWID)
Co-generation & Mill Energy
Algorhythm Holdings' Azure Energy unit plans a 100 MW biomass pyrolysis-to-power plant in western North Carolina fed by regional woody biomass, built in two 50 MW phases (first in ~24 months, second ~12 months later, operation late 2028); it intends to market the project after final permitting for up to $70M ($1M per "powered acre"), with offers evaluated before year-end and ~$3M in fee income expected in 2027 (Bioenergy Insight)
Wood Pellets
European wood pellet prices are rising sharply ahead of the heating season: German prices are up nearly 28% year-on-year in October, with increases also in Austria, Switzerland and the Baltics, while Poland's latest retail figures show a slight dip after earlier gains (GWMI)
Germany's revised Biomass Electricity Sustainability Ordinance (BioSt-NachV, implementing RED III) will extend full-supply-chain sustainability certification to solid-biomass power plants of 7.5–20 MW thermal input; cabinet decision is set for Oct. 28, compliance applies from the day after gazetting, and uncertified operators risk losing EEG payments, with transitional relief only if certification bodies were unavailable (Bioenergy Insight)
Industry Technology Vendors
Ponsse — Q3 net sales fell 7.4% to €159.8M and operating profit to €5.9M (3.7% margin), propped up by a non-recurring €3.5M US customs-duty refund, but order intake rose to €170.4M from €143.4M and the order book stands at €170.5M (+4.5%); full-year guidance (EBIT on par with 2025's €41.6M) is unchanged, Vieremä factory capacity will be adjusted for the rest of the year, and CEO Juho Nummela cited fuel prices and weak construction keeping demand "well below normal" even in the Nordics (Inderes)
