International Paper posted a $1.10B Q3 loss from continuing operations on a $1.38B non-cash goodwill impairment of its EMEA packaging business (adjusted EBITDA $843M, net sales $6.20B); North America packaging operating profit rose to $427M on higher prices, operations at the Pine Hill mill were suspended, EMEA is being separated as DS Smith plc with no further guidance for it, and full-year NA packaging operating profit is guided to $1.3–1.4B (Lesprom)
AV Group is selling the 106,574-acre woodlot (≈4.5M m³ standing timber, bids due Dec. 17 via LandVest) tied to its Nackawic, N.B. dissolving pulp mill, which idles at the end of this week with ~350 layoffs starting next week; the province has bid (amount under NDA) and wants the land kept with the mill, Unifor Local 219 doubts the idling is temporary, and PC MLAs are pressing the province to keep the mill heated this winter (CBC via Yahoo, CTV)
Millar Western has extended the Quesnel River Pulp curtailment in Quesnel, B.C. (running since Sept. 4, originally to Nov. 1) to Dec. 1, citing weak demand, poor pricing and tariffs on Chinese exports; employees get an update by mid-November (My Prince George Now)
Metsä Board's Q3 comparable operating result improved for a fourth straight quarter to €5.5M (vs –€45.6M) on sales of €402.3M, with comparable EBITDA of €30.1M; a long market-related shutdown at Husum and the continuing Joutseno pulp shutdown cut volumes, the transformation programme has reached a ~€148M EBITDA run-rate, and Q4 deliveries are expected to fall seasonally while energy costs rise (Inderes)
Rio Grande do Sul granted CMPC the preliminary environmental licence (Oct. 23) for its R$27B Natureza project at Barra do Ribeiro — 3M t/yr bleached eucalyptus kraft plus a ~R$1.5B export terminal at Rio Grande; an installation licence is still needed before construction (PaperAge)
Stora Enso and China's Shanshan Technology will jointly build a demonstration line at Ningbo for Lignode lignin-based hard-carbon anode material for sodium-ion batteries; no capacity or timeline given (PULPAPERnews, Wood Central)
Former CEO Karsten Derks has taken full ownership (effective Oct. 1) of Papierfabrik Niederauer Mühle in Kreuzau, Germany — the only German mill recycling beverage cartons into corrugated case material — after a failed 2025–26 sale process; the smaller of its two machines has been closed and restructuring continues (EUWID)
Forestry & Timber
West Fraser will indefinitely curtail its Huguley OSB mill (Lanett, Ala.) and Leola, Ark. sawmill in Q4 — 500 MMsf OSB and 225 MMBF SYP lumber capacity, with a $200–220M impairment — as its Q3 net loss widened to $80M on sales of $1.36B (adjusted EBITDA $38M); lumber and OSB shipments are guided to the low end of range and CEO Sean McLaren sees no near-term demand improvement (Lesprom)
November lumber futures settled at $507.50/mbf on Oct. 27, a 2026 low (vs $539.50 end-September), as September new-home sales fell 5.3% y/y to a 676,000 pace and NAHB builder confidence hit its weakest since 2012 (Wood Central)
Irving Forest Products is expanding its Ashland, Maine sawmill from 130 to 250 MMBF/yr, creating or retaining ~220 FTE jobs, financed with federal and state tax credits plus TD Bank ($10M allocation and $49M in backed investments); equipment is on order and construction is starting (WAGM)
Ottawa is giving Conifex up to C$11M (C$10M repayable) under the Regional Tariff Response Initiative to modernize its Mackenzie, B.C. sawmill — transfer systems, five kilns and automated production equipment — on top of a C$30M tariff loan in September; a Forest Sector Strategy for Canada is due in November (Canada.ca, Lesprom)
The MRC de Manicouagan, Unifor and management of the idled Scierie des Outardes (Baie-Comeau, Que.) asked Quebec on Oct. 28 for a temporary 100,000 m³ timber allocation, in cooperation with the Innu of Pessamit, to run the mill until spring — ~365 forestry and mill jobs at stake (Fordaq)
A UN crime conference in Vienna voted 83–12 (27 abstaining) to negotiate a protocol making timber trafficking an organised crime under the UNTOC, enabling extradition and asset seizure; the U.S. called the vote and opposed it, and a draft is targeted for 2028 (Wood Central, Wood Central)
Acadian Timber's Q3 adjusted EBITDA rose to C$5.0M (21% margin) on sales of C$24.0M as a 17% higher average price offset 14% lower volumes (225.3k m³); New Brunswick harvests fell on weak softwood pulpwood demand, no carbon credits were sold, and pulpwood demand is expected to stay reduced until customers add production (GlobeNewswire)
Norway's average industrial roundwood price fell 26% y/y to NOK 640/m³ in Q3 (spruce sawlogs –20.6% to NOK 861, spruce pulpwood –30.5% to NOK 423) on flat removals of 2.86M m³ (Fordaq)
The U.S. EDA intends to award $7.4M in disaster funding to Georgia's REGEN AG coalition (with Georgia Tech) to turn Hurricane Helene storm-damaged timber into agricultural materials (Fordaq)
Austrian regional media report Hasslacher will close its Gemson glulam-components site in Rangersdorf (~40 staff) and move production to Stall, Sachsenburg and Hermagor; the group has not confirmed (Fordaq)
ResourceWise's H1 2026 review: the Global Sawlog Price Index fell 2% q/q in Q2 (+3% y/y), hardwood fibre +7% y/y, softwood fibre –4%, global softwood lumber exports down ~9% with U.S. and Chinese imports lower, and pellet exports up modestly (Timberbiz)
Wood Pellets & Biomass
Germany's cabinet approved the RED III transposition for bioenergy: sustainability certification now applies to solid-biomass power plants from 7.5 MW (down from 20 MW, with a transition period), required GHG savings rise from 70% to 80% for plants commissioned after Nov. 20, 2023, wood-residue rules are tightened for old-growth and sensitive habitats, and retroactive withdrawal of fraudulent certificates is enabled; BBE criticised the lack of simplified verification for 7.5–20 MW plants (Bioenergy Insight)
