Woke up at 5, pulled on the boots. Mud from last Tuesday still stuck to the roots. Drove 3 hours down a logging track. Phones got no signal. GPS won’t come back. Someone at the barbecue asked what I do. I said I manage forests. They said, “Oh, that’s cool.” So you just hug trees and watch them grow. Man, I’ve been pruning since before you’d know. We’re out in the bush while you’re stuck in town. Counting every tree ring, measuring the crown. [Our thanks to Andrew Dunn for sending this in!]
OTTAWA — The Canadian Kitchen Cabinet Association (CKCA) supports the Government of Canada’s launch of a 
The Trump administration has begun processing refunds for billions of dollars in tariffs that the US Supreme Court struck down in February. In what is to be the biggest repayment programme in history, companies can apply online for money they were charged under the “Liberation Day” tariffs – plus interest – to be returned. …But individual consumers, who were hit by the tariffs indirectly through higher prices, are not expected to be compensated. …”All importers of record whose entries were subject to IEEPA duties are entitled to the benefit” from the high court’s ruling, Judge Richard Eaton wrote. As of early April, more than 56,000 importers had completed the necessary steps to apply for refunds online when the portal opened, with their claims worth $127bn. The portal, known as the Consolidated Administration and Processing of Entries (Cape), went live on Monday. 
OTTAWA — The Canada Border Services Agency has launched a probe to determine if plywood is being subsidized or sold at unfair prices in Canada. A news release from the agency says the investigation began on April 10 and focuses on imports from producers operating in or exporting from China. It says the practices can harm Canadian industries by undercutting Canadian prices and undermining fair competition. The investigation comes after a complaint was filed by Columbia Forest Products and the Canadian Hardwood Plywood and Veneer Association, which say they’ve faced lost sales, poor financial results and reduced employment. The CBSA and the Canadian International Trade Tribunal are both involved in investigations of Chinese plywood. The tribunal will issue its decision by June 9, while the CBSA’s probe into unfair prices will reach a preliminary decision by July 9.
SALMON ARM, British Columbia — Forsite Consultants Ltd. today announced the launch of 
Researchers at the U.S. Forest Service’s Southern Research Station and Louisiana State University have published a paper that investigates how the European Union Deforestation Regulations could alter global wood pellet trade patterns. The paper is titled “Wood pellet market restructuring under the European Union deforestation regulation: A dynamic spatial equilibrium analysis.” …“Our results suggest the EUDR reallocates global trade rather than reducing global production,” the researchers wrote. While the regulation succeeds in reducing the European Union’s reliance on imports and increases its share of consumption of deforestation-free products, it does not materially lower the total amount of wood pellets produced and burned worldwide. …The main economic result is a shift in trade flows, where pellets that are blocked from the European market are redirected to Asian buyers. …The large production losses projected for the US Southeast, compared to the much smaller losses for Canada.
BRUSSELS — The European Union’s trade surplus with the rest of the world shrank by 60 per cent in February as exports to the United States dropped by more than a quarter, with U.S. import tariffs of 15 per cent largely in place on EU goods. EU exports as a whole were 9.3 per cent lower in February than a year earlier, while imports were down 3.5 per cent, EU statistics office Eurostat said on Friday. The largest export decline was towards the U.S., with a drop of 26.4 per cent, while imports from the United States were 3.2 per cent lower. EU exports to China were also down. A year ago, EU exporters had begun front-loading shipments to the U.S. in anticipation of U.S. President Donald Trump’s tariffs, inflating the export figures for early 2025 and potentially explaining February’s sharp decline. Exports to the United States in February 2025 rose by 22.4 per cent year-on-year.
Rising tensions between the United States and Iran are creating mounting challenges for recycled paper mills across the Gulf region, known as the GCC. The sector is heavily dependent on imported recovered paper, particularly OCC (old corrugated containers) and mixed waste paper from Europe, the United States and Asia. Geopolitical instability has led to higher freight costs, increased insurance premiums and growing uncertainty in supply chains. Although local waste paper collection remains relatively stable, the unpredictability of imports has made procurement strategies more complex. Delays and disruptions in shipments risk directly affecting production. At the same time, the cost of key inputs is rising. Prices for chemicals, starch and spare parts are increasing due to logistical bottlenecks and delayed deliveries. …Despite these pressures, the market outlook in the Middle East remains relatively stable in the short term. …However, prolonged geopolitical uncertainty could gradually dampen industrial activity and consumption.
Seven paper mills have closed in France since the beginning of 2024, raising concerns about a broader decline in the country’s paper and pulp industry. The warning comes from COPACEL, which highlighted the trend during its annual press conference. The industry group also pointed to a fragile outlook for several production sites entering 2026. Out of a total of 81 paper mills in France, seven have permanently ceased operations. According to COPACEL, the closures have significant consequences for employment, regional development and industrial sovereignty. France is already a net importer of pulp, paper and cardboard, increasing its reliance on foreign supply. At the same time, two packaging paper companies are undergoing court-led restructuring, while a group operating two large pulp mills is in conciliation proceedings. Several other companies are considered financially vulnerable. Meanwhile, French manufacturers face persistently high production costs linked to energy prices, taxation and administrative complexity.
For the second consecutive month, a leading index reported an increase in North American containerboard pricing. Month-over-month containerboard prices rose $30 per ton in April, following March’s $40 per ton increase, according to monthly data released Friday in Fastmarkets RISI’s Pulp & Paper Week publication. When also taking into consideration the $20 per ton decrease the index reported in February, containerboard pricing has a year-to-date net increase of $50 per ton. …On the boxboard front, most prices remained relatively flat in April. Solid bleached sulfate remains in oversupply, although demand was flat to slightly improved. 
JAKARTA — The Industry Ministry is pushing for packaging diversification and the development of alternative materials to strengthen the competitiveness of domestic manufacturers, particularly in the food and beverage sector, as global dynamics continue to drive up plastic prices …“We see the geopolitical situation in the Middle East as a catalyst to improve efficiency and accelerate innovation in more sustainable packaging alternatives,” said Putu Juli Ardika. In response, industry players have begun diversifying packaging materials, turning to paper, glass, metal and recycled plastics such as recycled polyethylene terephthalate (rPET), according to the ministry. Putu noted that the shift reflects both cost considerations and a broader push toward sustainability. Furthermore, the ministry sees strong potential in paper-based packaging, supported by Indonesia’s well-established pulp and paper industry. Paper packaging is increasingly being adopted across the retail, food and beverage, e-commerce and logistics sectors.
Log cost inflation, tightening felling regulations, muted end-product demand and the disruption of Middle East & North Africa (MENA) export channels by the conflict in the Persian Gulf are combining to test the resilience of sawmills in Finland and Sweden, with the pressure being felt all the way to Central European timber yards. In September 2025, Finland and Sweden jointly wrote to European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, warning that both countries were on track to miss their binding EU forest carbon-sink targets. …Finnish Prime Minister Petteri Orpo said, that reducing felling volumes was “not a viable option” and that it would have “dire consequences” for Nordic economies.” This high-level lobbying by Norway and Sweden highlights the central tension now confronting the Nordic sawn timber industry: that a sector already struggling with elevated sawlog costs and sluggish end-user demand has found itself additionally squeezed from above by environmental regulation.
As the world gets hotter and wildfires more intense, architects are turning back to trees for more than inspiration. Engineered materials like cross-laminated and glue-laminated timber, in which layers of wood are glued together, create beams that are tough and somewhat flexible, yet lightweight. They’re so strong, in fact, that designers are crafting wood structures that are 15, 20, even 25 stories high: In 2022, the 284-foot Ascent MKE Building opened in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, becoming the world’s tallest timber building. It’s exactly because the world is getting hotter that architects are pushing the limits of how tall they can build with “mass timber,” as it’s known in the field: As trees grow, they capture planet-warming carbon, which is then permanently incorporated into the edifice. To that end, last month crews completed a 10-story building in Vancouver, called the Hive, which is now North America’s tallest brace-framed, seismic-force-resisting (meaning it shrugs off earthquakes) timber structure. 
The UK construction sector is being encouraged to increase its use of homegrown timber, as industry experts highlight the benefits of locally sourced materials over imports. Despite the availability of sustainable domestic options, nearly 80% of timber used in the United Kingdom continues to be imported. This reliance is now being questioned across the supply chain. …A key issue raised within the sector relates to timber grading. Architects and engineers frequently specify higher grades such as GL28 or C24 without fully assessing project requirements. This trend has developed due to historical dependence on imported Scandinavian timber, where C24 is the standard grade. In contrast, the most common grade produced in the UK is closer to C16. This mismatch has led to inefficiencies. British timber is often overlooked. Specifications are sometimes made without full evaluation. The ‘Trust UK C16’ campaign is aiming to address this imbalance. 
The loss of our forests is one of the biggest environmental challenges of our time. Forests are key to curbing carbon emissions and protecting the plants, animals and humans that call Earth home. However, we’re losing our forests at an alarming rate. Our new study shows we’ve lost roughly 300 million hectares over the past 11 years. However, it’s unclear how much of this forest has since been restored. Either way, we’re losing a significant amount of forest despite efforts to protect it through certification, protection and other conservation schemes. The European Union has introduced policies aimed at eliminating products and supply chains that contribute to forest loss. …Halting forest loss is also a major focus of international declarations, such as the Glasgow Leaders’ Declaration on Forests and Land Use. …Protected areas may also help curb forest loss. …These two strategies should be reducing, or even stopping, forest loss. But they’re failing to do so at a global scale.
Most European consumers care about forests – they don’t want to eat, wear and wash with products that contribute to forest loss. This is the root of the European Union’s Deforestation Regulation (EUDR), which takes aim at the links between EU imports and global deforestation, estimated to affect an area almost the size of Rome each year. Yet the EUDR has faced pushback, resulting in dilution and delays, with implementation postponed to the end of 2026. This is a critical moment for the law. The Commission has been tasked with a simplification review, which it must report on by the end of April. …EU lawmakers would do well to consider new evidence from Forest 500, showing that companies have already responded tangibly to the prospect of legislation. The EUDR has succeeded in steering business expectations, galvanising investments and driving supply chain action by some of the most influential companies in the deforestation economy.
The Drax power plant in North Yorkshire received record subsidies of almost £1bn for burning trees to generate electricity in 2025, a climate thinktank has calculated. The company was paid £999m last year for generating about 4.5% of Great Britain’s electricity from its biomass plant, costing each household £13 a year, according to analysts at Ember. The power plant was able to claim £2.7m a day from energy bills in part by increasing its power generation by about 2% from the year before – but mostly due to the rising payouts from a legacy renewables support scheme. …The Guardian revealed last November that forestry experts believed the company was burning 250-year-old trees sourced from some of Canada’s oldest forests as recently as last summer. …The government has already halved the subsidies available to Drax. …Drax will have to switch to using woody biomass from 100% sustainable sources, up from the current level of 70%. 
Drax has extended its wood pellet shipping contract with Ultrabulk through March 2031, with a mechanism to reduce carbon emissions year on year from sea freight journeys, according to Drax. The agreement follows the first UK arrival of the M.V. Ultra Yorkshire, a Handymax carrier operated by Ultrabulk, which completed its first transatlantic voyage carrying over 29 thousand tonnes of biomass pellets from the Port of Greater Baton Rouge to the Port of Liverpool. The cargo is set for rail transport to Drax Power Station in Selby. …The company estimated the voyage produced around 90% less CO2 than standard maritime fuels such as VLSFO or ULSGO.
UK — Burning wood for power generation can be worse for the climate than burning gas, even when the resulting carbon dioxide emissions are captured and stored, 
EUROPE — The war in the Middle East has – among many other unintended but avoidable consequences – put renewed pressure on the European Union to water down its carbon pricing policy. The focus right now is on the existing Emissions Trading System (ETS), but it’s not too soon to be concerned about the fate of its upcoming sequel, known as ETS2. ETS2 is the most consequential climate policy most Europeans (much less the rest of the world) have never heard of. Whereas the existing ETS puts a price on the carbon pollution caused by major industries such as power generation, steel, shipping, aviation and cement, ETS2 does the same for fossil fuels used for land transport and to heat buildings. As such it will impact as much as 40% of the EU’s total emissions – and the living costs of 450 million Europeans. The clock is ticking. ETS2 is scheduled to come into effect in 2028.
