VIETNAM — The United States has decided to postpone the tariff increase on certain finished wood products, including upholstered chairs, kitchen cabinets, and bathroom cabinets, from January 1, 2026, to January 1, 2027. The postponement of the tax increase on some finished wood products helps Vietnamese businesses temporarily avoid the policy shock at the beginning of 2026. However, this is not a sign of loosening, but rather a tactical retreat, requiring the wood industry to be more proactive and cautious in policy planning and restructuring the overall development strategy of the entire industry. …Mr. Ngo Sy Hoai, Vice President of the Vietnam Wood and Forest Products Association (VIFOREST), commented that if postponing the tariff increase is considered an “opportunity,” then extreme caution is needed. In reality, tariff pressure has spread throughout the entire supply chain, from domestic manufacturers to importers and retail systems in the US.
RUSS TAYLOR provided the latest quarterly report from the 
Global markets plunged Tuesday after President Trump reignited fears of a US trade war with the European Union, America’s largest trading partner. The president showed no signs of backing off his threat from Saturday to hit seven EU countries and the United Kingdom with new tariffs unless they supported his push for American control of Greenland. Asked if he would be willing to use force to seize the semi-autonomous Danish territory, Trump replied, “No comment,” on Monday. The S&P 500 sold off by around 1.3% in early trading, while the Nasdaq Composite plunged 1.7%. The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped more than 600 points. The S&P 500 has erased its gains for the year so far. Investors also sold off U.S. government bonds, driving up interest rates. Rising returns on US treasuries usually translate into higher mortgage rates and interest on new personal loans.
Tokyo — Housing starts in Japan fell 6.5% from the previous year to 740,667 units in 2025, down for the third straight year and hitting a 62-year low, the land ministry said Friday. The drop reflected deterioration in consumer sentiment amid rising prices, as well as falling demand due to the country’s shrinking population. Of the total, owner-occupied houses dropped 7.7% to 201,285 units, down for the fourth consecutive year. Housing for rent fell 5.0% to 324,991 units, down for the third year in a row. Condominiums and houses for sale decreased 7.6% to 208,169 units, down for the third consecutive year. The results can also be attributed to a law revision in April that led to delays in construction starts for wooden homes with energy-saving features.
HÀ NỘI — Despite unprecedented challenges from global markets and the growing impacts of climate change, 2025 marked a historic milestone for Việt Nam’s wood industry, as export turnover of timber and wood products surpassed US$17 billion for the first time. According to data from Việt Nam Customs, exports of timber and wood products reached nearly $1.7 billion in December 2025 alone, bringing total export value for the year to $17.2 billion – an increase of nearly 6 per cent compared with 2024. In 2025, exports of timber and wood products to the US totalled $9.46 billion, up 4.4 per cent year on year and accounting for approximately 55 per cent of the industry’s total export turnover. Việt Nam continued to maintain its position as the largest supplier of wooden furniture to the US market. …Việt Nam’s market share of wooden furniture in the US increased significantly, rising from 40.5 per cent in the first eight months of 2024 to 45.3 per cent in the same period of 2025. 
In the construction industry, ideas or materials first seen on the margins of construction processes later become an established part of those processes. …And so it seems to be with Mass Timber Construction (MTC). MTC entered the construction industry as an intriguing approach to reduce embodied carbon. …Today, MTC has become a mainstream building method. Across North America, there are reportedly 2,500 MTC buildings already built or in the planning stages. Similar levels of acceptance are seen in Europe. The world’s leading architects and designers have embraced MTC by incorporating wood components into a wide range of building types and sizes, from commercial offices to housing, campuses, infrastructure and even data centres. Interest and acceptance have moved beyond the pure environmental benefits of using MTC. Economics, simple dollars and cents, are now recognized as a persuasive factor as well. This is because mass timber changes the mechanics of construction.
TIANJIN, CHINA — The global movement against single-use plastics has triggered a significant transformation in the disposable tableware industry, with wood cutlery emerging as a leading alternative. As regulations tighten and consumer preferences shift toward eco-friendly options, manufacturers of disposable wooden utensils are experiencing unprecedented growth and facing new challenges in scaling production, ensuring sustainability, and meeting diverse international standards. Market analysts observe that regulatory pressure represents the primary driver for this sector’s expansion. The European Union’s Single-Use Plastics Directive, along with similar legislation in Canada, Australia, and numerous U.S. states, has created a substantial and sustained demand for compliant alternatives. Within this regulatory framework, wood, particularly from fast-growing, sustainably managed sources like birch and bamboo, has gained favor for its natural composition, biodegradability, and perceived premium feel compared to other alternatives.
Each year, the event brings together leading voices from across the global pulp value chain to examine emerging trends, innovations, and the market forces shaping the industry. The 2026 program will feature dynamic discussions on strategy, markets, technology, sustainability, supply chains, and the broader role of pulp-based materials. Speakers have the opportunity to share their insights with a highly engaged international audience. We encourage proposals and topic ideas that can deepen insight and spark meaningful dialogue. Registration for the 21st edition of IPW is now open, and you can benefit from the Early Bird rate until February 16. More details are available on the registration page.
Ingka Investments, the investment arm of Ingka Group (IKEA’s largest retailer), has completed the acquisition of forestland from Södra in Latvia and Estonia, following the signing of the agreement announced in October 2025. The transaction is part of Ingka Investments’ strategy to invest in long‑term assets that combine financial resilience with positive impact for the Ingka Group and IKEA business, building a strong foundation for many generations to come. With the acquisition now completed, Ingka Investments will take on the role of long‑term forest owner, with the ambition to manage the forest in a responsible way, while contributing to local economic activity. …Total area included in the acquisition is 135,232 ha in Latvia, and 17,742 ha in Estonia. The purchase price of the asset was EUR 720 million. …With IKEA retail operations in 32 markets, Ingka Group is the largest IKEA retailer and represents 87% of IKEA retail sales.
HCM CITY — Proactive compliance with legal timber sourcing and sustainability standards is essential not only for business survival, but also for repositioning Việt Nam’s wood industry towards greater transparency, responsibility, and higher value creation in global supply chains, speakers said at a seminar in HCM City on January 29. Speaking at the Forest Talk & Link seminar themed “Wood Consumption, Climate Change and Deforestation-Free Requirements”, Võ Quang Hà, Chairman of the HCM City Structure Architecture Wood Association (SAWA), said Việt Nam exported more than US$17 billion worth of wood and wood products in 2025, ranking among the world’s leading furniture exporters. However, an estimated $4–5 billion in export revenue still derives from low-value wood chips and pellets, underscoring the sector’s significant untapped potential for value-added growth. Developing large-timber plantations was identified as a key solution.
Observed annually on February 2, World Wetlands Day marks the adoption of the Ramsar Convention in 1971 and provides an international framework for recognizing the role of wetlands in environmental protection and sustainable development. The 2026 edition is held under the theme “Wetlands and traditional knowledge: Celebrating cultural heritage,” drawing attention to the long-standing relationships between wetland ecosystems and the cultural practices, knowledge systems, and governance structures developed by communities over centuries. The theme highlights how inherited ecological knowledge, often embedded in rituals, seasonal calendars, land-use practices, and spatial organization, has shaped resilient interactions between human settlements and water-based landscapes. …World Wetlands Day 2026 emphasizes the need to reconsider prevailing development models by integrating traditional knowledge with scientific research and planning strategies in efforts toward conservation, restoration, and long-term environmental stewardship.
BOGOTA, Colombia — Chile is reeling from one of its most serious wildfire emergencies in years. Deadly flames sweeping across central and southern parts of the South American country have turned large swaths of forest and towns to ash. Fire scientists say the blazes are being driven not only by extreme heat, drought and wind, but also by how human-shaped landscapes interact with changing climates — a lethal mix that makes fires harder to control. …The fires have razed forests, farmland and hundreds of homes. …What distinguishes Chile’s current fire season isn’t an unusual surge in the number of fires, but the amount of land they are burning. …Miguel Castillo, at the University of Chile… “almost tripling the amount of affected area,” even though the number of fires so far is “within normal margins.” That means fewer ignitions are causing far greater damage — a pattern increasingly seen in extreme wildfire seasons around the world.
Mexico’s National Forestry Commission has issued the 2026 Rules of Operation for its Sustainable Forestry Development for Wellbeing Program, establishing requirements to access federal funding. The rules guidelines governing the allocation of public resources to strengthen sustainable forest development across Mexico. The program is structured around six support components: community forest management and sustainable value chains; commercial and agroforestry plantations; forest restoration; environmental services; forest protection; and capacity building and local development. Through these components, financial support will be provided to ejidos, Indigenous and Afro-Mexican communities, women-led forestry enterprises, and landowners of forested and preferentially forested land. Eligible projects include sustainable forest management, forest and agroforestry plantations, ecosystem restoration, conservation of environmental services, and protection against wildfires, pests, and diseases. Support also covers training and research activities, with a cross-cutting gender approach designed to strengthen women’s participation—particularly Indigenous and Afro-Mexican women—in decision-making and forestry value chains.
Negotiations between the European Commission, European Council, and European Parliament, often referred to as the “trilogue”, have reached a significant conclusion regarding the European Union’s Deforestation Regulation (EUDR). On December 4, 2025, an agreement was reached, which promises to ease the administrative burden on the timber industry across Europe. This marks an important milestone, with changes that significantly affect the way the sector will handle the regulation moving forward. The EUDR, designed to combat global deforestation, will now come into effect in January 2027, offering a twelve-month delay for businesses to adjust. One of the most crucial changes in the reform is the elimination of the complex process requiring the forwarding of reference numbers throughout the entire supply chain. This has been hailed as a victory by many industry leaders, including Dr. Erlfried Taurer, Chairman of the Austrian Timber Industry Association.
Canopy and Finance Earth outline strategic pathways for brands and investors to reduce virgin wood exposure and strengthen supply chain resilience. A new research brief released during the World Economic Forum warns that global wood-dependent supply chains face mounting commercial and ecological risk as rising demand, climate impacts, and regulatory pressure push forests toward ecological limits. The brief, produced by environmental non-profit Canopy with Finance Earth, argues that business-as-usual sourcing of virgin wood exposes brands and investors to higher costs, supply volatility, and growing reputational and legal risk over the decade ahead.The analysis comes as Canopy works with more than 1,000 consumer brands representing over $1.2 trillion in combined annual revenue to reduce deforestation and accelerate the adoption of circular and low-impact alternatives across sectors where wood is a primary input, including textiles and packaging.
Nature markets are systems for measuring an ecological improvement on some land, then creating a representation of that improvement as a credit, which can then be bought and sold. In theory, they allow governments to attract more private investment and diversify funds that help restore nature. The reality is much more complicated. I recently 
UK energy company Drax’s ambitions of becoming a significant wood pellet supplier to Asia are in danger of faltering as Japanese policymakers wind back generous subsidies for the biomass sector. Japan is set to soon surpass the UK as the world’s largest wood pellet importer after a post-Fukushima push to diversify power sources that caused hundreds of plants to spring up that burn wood pellets, palm kernel shells — a palm oil byproduct — and other organic materials. But policymakers in Japan are pulling support for the controversial industry after realising the hurdles to bringing down fuel costs. Tokyo has already cut subsidies for new projects of more than 10 megawatts. “The real intention is quite simple: no new government support, phasing out. We don’t see any clear path of bringing down costs in the foreseeable future,” said one government official. “Existing projects might survive but no new projects are coming.”
A door company in Ireland says it holds the key to turning wood dust into electricity to help power its factory. It’s part of a new multimillion-pound investment by O&S Doors. The company says the onsite renewable heat and energy technology is “a first on the island of Ireland”. Currently the company takes wood dust left over from the manufacturing process and ships it to England where it is used as animal bedding or sent to landfill. But the company – located just outside Benburb in County Tyrone – has revealed new details of its plans to install a biomass-fuelled combined heat and power system. It will turn the dust into millions of units of electricity that can reused to power parts of the factory. …O&S Doors says its biomass-fuelled combined heat and power system will harness MDF dust.
The energy industry initially sold wood pellets as a way to clean up coal. And governments bought into that assumption. But now policymakers are questioning that position and even reversing course. At the center of this debate is a UK-based power company called Drax, which converted Europe’s largest coal plant into a biomass facility—one fueled by wood pellets that it imported from southern states in the United States. The debate raises a multitude of questions, namely those centered on pollution and costs. That is, if the additive creates more pollution than either wind or solar energy, why bother, especially since it comes from a power source that depends on subsidies? Merry Dickinson, campaign director for the Dogwood Alliance, told me that Drax now operates entirely on woody biomass… “The amount of wood required … is beyond what is available as waste wood,” Dickinson says. “…much of the supply consists of whole trees.” [Forbes allows 4 free articles per month]
A new study has shown for the first time that waste cardboard can be used as an effective source of biomass fuel for large-scale power generation, offering a potential new domestic resource to support the UK’s renewable energy sector. Engineers from the University of Nottingham have carried out the first comprehensive characterisation of cardboard as a fuel source and developed a new method to assess its composition. The research … provides a practical tool for evaluating different grades of cardboard for use in energy production. The study found that cardboard displays distinct physical and chemical properties compared with traditional biomass fuels. These include lower carbon content, a reduced heating value and a high level of calcium carbonate fillers, particularly in printed grades. Calcium carbonate is commonly added to cardboard to improve stiffness and optical qualities, but during combustion it forms ash that can reduce boiler performance.
Chilean President Gabriel Boric has declared a state of catastrophe in two regions where deadly wildfires have left at least 18 people dead. More than 50,000 people have also been evacuated in the Ñuble and Biobío regions, about 500km (300 miles) south of the capital Santiago. Boric said the death toll was expected to increase. The most dangerous fire has swept through dry forests bordering the coastal city of Concepción. About 250 homes have been destroyed, disaster officials said. Local media have shown pictures of charred cars in the streets. Chile’s forestry agency, Conaf, said firefighters were battling 24 fires across the country on Sunday. The most threatening, it added, were in Ñuble and Biobío. The fires have burnt through 8,500 hectares (21,000 acres) in the two regions so far.