CME lumber futures closed Friday, Nov. 6 at US$500/mbf — the lowest close since Sept. 13, 2024 — down US$15 (2.9%) on the week and 6.3% below a year earlier, with trading thinning to about 520 contracts a session from 927 the week before (Lesprom)
The Forest Service says only about 188,000 acres of currently roadless Tongass land — under 2% of the forest — would be suitable for logging if the 2001 Roadless Rule is rescinded, which USDA expects to finalise next year; Viking Lumber puts road costs at about US$200,000 a mile, and the Alaska Forest Association's Tessa Axelson says it is "not significant volume" for a regional industry that now supports fewer than 300 jobs (Alaska Public Media, NPR)
Update: More than 200 Canadian lumber producers face fresh US duty bills on 2024 shipments because the 24.75% combined rate applies retroactively to entries where most paid deposits as low as 8.05%; Western Forest Products expects US$27.6M of export-tax expense plus US$5.5M of interest this quarter and will keep its Cowichan Bay and Chemainus sawmills curtailed for the rest of the year, with customs assessments starting no earlier than 41 days after publication (Wood Central)
Indonesia's forestry subsector contracted 2.52% y/y in Q3 (after +6.02% in Q2) following the fire season; Greenpeace counted 859 haze hotspots inside 115 timber concessions, fires on three South Sumatra pulpwood concessions supplying Asia Pulp & Paper led Singapore's green-label body to put APP's label under temporary restrictions, and the forestry ministry has sanctioned 32 companies and revoked five licences (Wood Central)
Derome introduced a "sawable pulpwood" grade for spruce with firm root rot, using AI-assisted log imaging and the sawline it installed in 2025 (SEK 600M); a pilot found up to 4% of final-felling volume could move from pulpwood to the new grade, against an estimated 2.7M m³ of Swedish spruce logs downgraded each year at a cost to forest owners of about SEK 1B (Fordaq)
A New South Wales baseline survey estimated 274,000 koalas in the state (range 231,000–320,000), above the 180,000 east-coast best estimate behind the 2022 endangered listing; former CSIRO chief research scientist John Raison is questioning the listing as the Great Koala National Park adds more than 178,000 ha of Mid North Coast state forest (Wood Central, Wood Central)
Wood Pellets & Biomass
Poland's climate minister Paulina Hennig-Kloska said on Nov. 4 that wholesale pellet prices have fallen on higher imports and warm weather and that retail prices — still above PLN 2,000/t — should follow; if they do not, the Office of Competition and Consumer Protection may examine the market for price-fixing. About 450,000 Polish households now use pellet boilers, over 90,000 more than in 2023 (UA.News)
Industry Technology Vendors
Valmet — Will supply another complete board making line to an unnamed major Asian board producer — stock preparation through board machine, reel and winder, plus automation, digital services, machine clothing and spares — with start-up scheduled for 2029; the order is booked in Q3 2026 and its value was not disclosed (PR Newswire, PULPAPERnews)
Jartek — Completed a new feeding area with a servo feeder at Stora Enso's Brand sawmill in Austria over the summer, the Finnish supplier's first equipment delivery to the Austrian market; value not disclosed (Wood & Panel)
