Holmen's Q3 operating profit fell to SEK 549M (737M) on net sales of SEK 4,945M (5,327M), with the Iggesund maintenance stop costing ~SEK 150M, average wood prices down ~10% and board utilization "not really" at the ~90% management calls healthy; paperboard price increases are planned for Jan. 1, southern sawmill capacity cuts continue with northern mills under review, and the Forest division is being split into Holmen Forest and a Wood Supply unit. Shares fell ~3% (Inderes, Investing.com)
Norske Skog's Q3 EBITDA of NOK 448M (vs NOK 13M) rests on a NOK 338M gain from selling Saugbrugs property to Norwegian Nuclear Decommissioning (~NOK 110M underlying); Golbey PM1 posted negative EBITDA of NOK 40M on 60,000 t (drought, press problems) while Bruck PM3 had its best quarter since startup, the ~NOK 850M Saugbrugs PM6 rebuild is set for H1 2028 startup, and management says it will take market downtime "when running would destroy value" (Investing.com)
Rottneros swung to Q3 EBITDA of SEK 26M (-21M), almost entirely on lower wood costs (~90% of a SEK 51M variable-cost reduction); the Vallvik maintenance shutdown that began end-September will cut Q4 earnings by SEK 70–80M, the company stays on temporary loan covenants until Q2 2027, and tissue is no longer a prioritized segment (Investing.com)
Packaging Corp. of America's Q3 EPS ex-items of $3.04 beat its own $2.91 guidance on net sales of $2.60B (vs $2.31B); mills ran at full capacity, containerboard output was 1.489M tons, the acquired Greif mills contributed $0.13/share, and Q4 guidance of $2.81 reflects maintenance outages at three mills and higher fiber, chemical and energy costs. Charges for discontinuing Wallula's No. 2 machine and kraft pulping total $60M year to date (SEC 8-K)
Century Sunshine is building a new pulp mill in Rizhao, Shandong — a 1.2M t/yr hardwood/softwood swing line plus a 400,000 t/yr softwood line for fluff and dissolving pulp — with startup targeted for June 2028; Valmet is supplying the cooking, fiberline and recovery island (order >€100M, see Vendors) and the biomass-fired lime kilns make the mill fossil-free (Lesprom, Valmet)
SCA completed its Östrand fibreline project during the annual maintenance shutdown: redesigned steaming/impregnation with a new hot top, lower impregnation temperature and a new post-digester washing stage with two pressure diffusers, aimed at cutting blow-through risk and laying the groundwork for a sustained production-rate increase; a 96-hour test run is under way (Timberbiz)
South Africa has imposed a 5% customs duty on newsprint imports (from zero), effective Oct. 16, after an ITAC investigation triggered by Sappi Southern Africa, whose Ngodwana mill is the only newsprint producer left in the customs union; Canada supplied 47.2% of imports in 2024/25, Brazil 19.8% and Norway 18.3%, and domestic capacity utilization had fallen to 46.1%. The duty will be reviewed after three years (Cape {town} Etc)
AF&PA September data: U.S. printing-writing paper shipments fell 9% y/y with inventories down 6% from August, while packaging papers and specialty packaging shipments rose 2% (PaperAge, PaperAge)
Forestry & Timber
Ahead of Saturday's B.C. election, The Tyee compared forestry platforms: the NDP pledges C$120M over two years for at-risk workers and mills, a mill-retention task force and lifting the economically viable harvest to 45M m³ from 29M; the Conservatives match the 45M m³ target, would extend the C$200M Manufacturing Jobs Fund, cut taxes for value-added manufacturers and reform stumpage; the Greens reject 45M m³, want clearcutting ended and up to 50% of fibre directed to value-added. USW's Scott Lunny wants a forestry jobs protection commissioner revived (The Tyee)
Luke's September figures show Finnish private-forest roundwood purchases doubled from August and ran 50% above September 2025 (Jan–Sep still -14%); standing spruce sawlogs averaged €83.26/m³ and pine €77.08 (each -1% real m/m), while standing pulpwood slipped 3–4% to €22–24/m³ (Fordaq)
TasPorts will run an independent strategic review (January–July 2027) of the ownership and operating model of the Burnie Chip Export Terminal ahead of a major reinvestment cycle, with options including continued TasPorts ownership, a JV or alternative owners; Forico and Sustainable Timber Tasmania's facility agreements remain in place (Timberbiz)
U.S. builder confidence fell to 29 on the October NAHB/Wells Fargo index, the lowest since June 2012, with 43% of builders cutting prices (average 6%) and 65% offering incentives; German wood-product producer prices nonetheless rose 7.1% y/y in September (softwood sawn timber +6.9%), and U.S. sawn softwood imports posted a double-digit y/y gain in August after falling 9% in H1 and 22% in July (Fordaq, Fordaq, EUWID)
Twain Lumber's planned restart of the former Teal-Jones sawmill on Carver Road in Henry County, Va. ($7.4M, 74 jobs, output rising from 80 to 108 MMBF) is drawing resident pushback over truck traffic (estimates up to 228/day), noise and debris; the county says it did not recruit the project and has requested a traffic signal at U.S. 58 (Henry County Enterprise)
Victoria added ~2,155 ha of native forest to the Brataualung Forest Park in South Gippsland (Timberbiz)
Estonia's Lemeks Grupp is acquiring Lithuanian glulam producer Jūres Medis through its Palmako subsidiary (EUWID)
Wood Pellets
Cindrigo Holdings plans a wood pellet plant ("Fuelwood") at the Heinola industrial estate in Finland, starting at ~80,000 t/yr with a long-term target of ~400,000 t/yr; the 32 ha site includes a 40 MW thermal CHP plant that would supply heat to the pellet line, the business is structured as a JV in which Cindrigo initially holds a minority stake, and funding is the stated constraint on timing (BioEnergy Times)
Update: DEPI's October benchmark for German ENplus A1 pellets is €464.61/t (six-tonne delivery), up 2.3% on the month after September's 6.2% jump and more than 23% above June, with the institute blaming reduced sawmill residue supply as sawmills cut output (Bioenergy Insight)
Placer County, Calif. approved a $6M loan (60 months, 10%) to Sierra Nevada Biochar (Biochar Now) for a forest-thinning biomass biochar facility at the Cabin Creek/Eastern Regional Landfill site near Lake Tahoe, replacing a gasification power plant permitted in 2013 that was never built (Bioenergy Insight)
Industry Technology Vendors
Valmet — Will supply the key technology for Century Sunshine's new Rizhao pulp mill: two parallel fiberlines (a continuous-cooking swing line and a softwood fluff/dissolving line with TwinRoll presses), a Tubel evaporation plant, high-power recovery boiler, ash crystallization, recausticizing and two biomass-fired lime kilns with dryers and gasifiers; order value exceeds €100M, booked in Q2 2026, startup June 2028 (Valmet)
Vollmer Werke — The Biberach, Germany maker of band-saw, circular-saw and tool sharpening machines entered provisional insolvency under self-administration by order of Ravensburg Local Court on Oct. 20, citing customers' cautious capital spending; operations and customer contacts continue, wages are covered for three months, and foreign subsidiaries are not affected (Fordaq)
Tigercat — Added an onboard D7 Help Centre to its TCi D7 harvesting head control system, accessible from the cab touchscreen, with the operator's manual, searchable troubleshooting and repair guides (measuring wheel, diameter and saw encoders), maintenance schedules and a quick-start section for newer operators (Timberbiz)
