Update: Mercer's Q3 net loss narrowed to US$59.2M (from US$76.0M in Q2) on revenue of US$440.7M (–4% y/y) with operating EBITDA of –US$2.9M; pulp output fell 11% to 406,519 ADMT and NBSK realisations slipped 8% to US$671/ADMT, Rosenthal has restarted after 24 days of unplanned Q4 downtime, Peace River booked ~US$13M of grants plus up to US$13.5M of repayable contributions, Q4 softwood pulp prices are expected to rise modestly, and the prepackaged Chapter 11 is still targeted to conclude by year-end (GlobeNewswire, StockTitan)
UPM and Sappi submitted remedies to the European Commission for their €1.42B graphic paper JV — capacity optimisation for certain European grades, customer-supply safeguards and decarbonisation investment, but no mill divestments; UPM expects a decision around year-end and says European graphic paper sales fell 7% y/y in Q3 (Lesprom, EUWID)
Ahlstrom completed a Line 3 upgrade at its Kingston, N.Y. plant, adding depth-filtration media capacity, a wider range of product widths and modernised process controls; no investment figure was disclosed (Papnews)
Forestry & Timber
Canada's Budget 2026 commits C$6.5B over six years from 2027-28 to the forest sector: C$4B for a new Forestry Sector Accelerator at EDC (Canada Account financing for new facilities and major conversions, including biorefineries and biofuel plants), C$2B via NRCan for mill and equipment modernisation and R&D, and C$500M for fibre supply chains; FPAC's Derek Nighbor said it is "time to move from promises to production," while BC's COFI warned mills need help before 2027-28 (Lesprom, Wood Central, CP24)
Interfor posted a Q3 net loss of C$45.6M (including a C$53.2M impairment on a curtailed Eastern Canada mill) on sales of C$832.1M, with adjusted EBITDA of C$76.9M; lumber production rose to 952 MMfbm as the rebuilt Thomaston, Ga. mill finished ramping, prices averaged C$751/mfbm (+2%), a ~US$63.3M non-cash duty charge lands in Q4 under the new 24.75% rate, and 2027 capex is guided at C$75–100M (GlobeNewswire, Lesprom)
Vienna-based modular timber builder Gropyus (25% owned by Vonovia's Buwog) put several subsidiaries into insolvency after a contractually agreed investor payment failed to arrive; the Richen, Germany wall factory operator and two Berlin units are under a court-appointed administrator and Gropyus Engineering in Austria was declared bankrupt, after H1 losses of €51.4M (Wood Central, Lesprom)
CMPC Maderas is investing ~US$120M in the US and Chile over the next two years, including two Biobío region projects worth almost US$93M (EUWID)
Stella-Jones launched a Performance Optimization Program targeting up to C$100M of cumulative savings over three years after Q3 net income fell to C$51M (from C$88M) on sales of C$979M, with C$32M of impairment and restructuring charges; the Candiac steel-structures expansion should double capacity by end-Q1 2027 (GlobeNewswire)
ISC 2026 data: German and Austrian sawlog prices have doubled since July 2020 (index 201%; Sweden 242%) as Germany's spruce/fir harvest halved from 62M m³ in 2021 to 32M m³ in 2025, with 2026 sawn softwood output heading for ~19M m³, the lowest since 2004; Russia's sawn softwood exports have fallen from 28M m³ in 2021 to 14M m³ in 2025, with nine-month 2026 shipments to China down 16.8% (Fordaq, Fordaq)
UK softwood imports fell 4.9% to 2.90M m³ in H1 2026 at an unchanged £281/m³ (Sweden 45%, Latvia 18%, Finland 12%); TDUK forecasts 5.54M m³ for 2026 (–4%) and a 1.2% rebound in 2027 (Fordaq)
Update: FSC rejected Greenpeace Nordic's Swedish criticism as "not supported by facts," noting certifiers have terminated 18 Swedish certificates since April and that the national standard has been under revision since March (Wood Central)
Homann Holzwerkstoffe said Q3 revenue rose y/y with "clearly positive" adjusted EBITDA, and the temporary capacity freeze at its Pagiriai, Lithuania MDF/HDF plant remains on track for year-end, with Lithuanian operating losses forecast at ~€23M in 2026 and ~€3M in 2027 (Fordaq)
BlueLinx's Q3 net sales rose 8.5% to US$813M with adjusted EBITDA up 42% to US$31.7M (US$29.5M excluding a US$2.2M import-duty benefit) (Fordaq)
Wood Pellets & Biomass
Michigan State University won a US$300,000 USDA grant to test whether timber damaged in the March 2025 ice storm (13 counties declared disaster areas) can be marketed as biochar, funding logger training, demonstrations and economic assessments (Wood Central)
Industry Technology Vendors
Linka Group — Denmark's Linka acquired the majority of Verdo Energy Systems (biomass boiler and CHP service, automation and industrial operations, plus its Polish office), effective Oct. 19, as Verdo winds down the unit; ~50 staff transfer, lifting Linka to ~150, price undisclosed (Bioenergy International)
