Region Archives: International

Breaking News

Suzano and Kimberly-Clark announce the creation of a global tissue company operating in over 70 countries

By Suzano and Kimberly-Clark
Businesswire
June 5, 2025
Category: Breaking News
Region: United States, International

SÃO PAULO, Brazil — Suzano, the world’s largest pulp producer, and Kimberly-Clark announced the creation of a US$3.4 billion joint venture focused on the manufacture, marketing and distribution of consumer and professional tissue products, such as toilet paper, napkins, paper towels and facial tissues in over 70 countries. Suzano will acquire a 51% interest in the new entity, with Kimberly-Clark holding a 49% interest. Suzano will pay Kimberly-Clark US$1.734 billion in cash at the closing of the transaction. …The transaction is expected to close in mid-2026 and involves approximately 9,000 employees. The new business will be a company incorporated in the Netherlands and will include 22 manufacturing facilities located in 14 countries. Collectively, these facilities have capacity to produce 1 million tonnes of tissue a year. The assets to be included in the new joint venture generated net sales in 2024 of US$3.3 billion. Kimberly-Clark will retain its consumer tissue and professional businesses in the US.

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Special Feature

Looking Back, Moving Forward: 20 Years of Industry Insights at IPW 2025

Kelly McCloskey, Editor
Tree Frog Forestry News
June 2, 2025
Category: Special Feature
Region: Canada, United States, International

International Pulp Week 2025 opened in Vancouver with a note of celebration and reflection as delegates marked the event’s 20th anniversary. “After decades of being in Montreal in January… we decided to move the event to Vancouver and into the spring and summer months,” said Tim Brown, Vice-President at Numera Analytics. Over the years, Brown noted, the event has drawn participants from more than 50 countries and consistently focused on the industry’s most pressing challenges and opportunities. “It’s an industry that has innovated, adapted, and is one that itself is smarter and more sustainable.” Following Brown’s welcome, he introduced Kevin Mason, Managing Director of ERA Forest Products Research, who returned to the IPW stage to reflect on two decades of transformation in the global pulp sector—and to look ahead.

…Mason highlighting four key developments that have defined the past two decades: “A dramatic rise in demand for market pulp from China… Chinese demand met by massive growth in hardwood capacity in Latin America… hardwood steadily gained share versus softwood… and tissue expanded while printing and writing papers contracted.” Looking ahead, Mason projected the estimated end-use composition of pulp demand in 2040: tissue at 54%, specialty papers at 24%, packaging at 12%, fluff-based products at 7%, and graphic paper at 3%. He also shared a slide titled “Potential Developments Over the Next 20 Years,” listing several scenarios: continued expansion of domestic pulp capacity in China; hardwood gaining further share over softwood (though possibly nearing saturation); and the potential for dramatic growth in specialty papers and packaging—if government policy supports a shift away from plastics.

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Tariffs, Uncertainty, and the US Economic Outlook: A Macro View

Kelly McCloskey, Editor
Tree Frog Forestry News
June 2, 2025
Category: Special Feature
Region: United States, International

At International Pulp Week 2025, the global macroeconomic backdrop took centre stage in a session led by Joaquin Kritz Lara, Chief Economist and Head of Macro at Numera Analytics. With trade tensions escalating and US tariffs rising sharply, Kritz Lara presented a data-rich assessment of the economic policy shifts reshaping global markets—and what they could mean for business decisions in the months ahead. “This year, the word of the year is ‘uncertainty,’” he said, echoing a sentiment already raised earlier in the conference. …Uncertainty, he stressed, has a clear and measurable impact: “If you’re a corporation, a high level of uncertainty essentially stifles decision-making… You postpone your projects just until you get a little more clarity around the rules of the game.”

For the US, tariffs present a dual threat. “They create uncertainty around growth, but they also create uncertainty around inflation,” he said. The risk, he argued, is stagflation—a combination of slowing economic activity and rising prices. …Kritz Lara cautioned that while inflationary pressures may ease absent new tariffs, markets are likely too optimistic about US growth. “We find a 75% chance that the economy will grow less than what the market expects it to grow next year,” he said. “That will likely reverse the US exceptionalism narrative.” In terms of interest rates, Kritz Lara believes the Fed may end up cutting more than markets expect. “If all those [macro expectations] are weaker than what the market expects, the chances of long-term rates falling are far higher than what the market is anticipating right now,” he said. “So again, this is not to say the debt situation doesn’t matter—but macro matters more.”

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Softwood and Hardwood: Market Signals from Metsä Fibre and Suzano

By Kelly McCloskey, Editor
Tree Frog Forestry News
June 2, 2025
Category: Special Feature
Region: International

At International Pulp Week, delegates heard directly from two of the world’s largest pulp producers on the state of global fibre markets—one representing softwood, the other hardwood. Mikko Antsalo, Senior Vice President of Sales and Supply Chain at Metsä Fibre, and Leonardo Grimaldi, Executive Vice President of Global Pulp Sales at Suzano, shared contrasting perspectives on supply, demand, and market dynamics across the fibre spectrum. …Mikko Antsalo began by stating, “Softwood pulp markets are projected to remain well-balanced,” citing steady demand growth and the absence of new capacity announcements as stabilizing factors. He concluded by reinforcing Metsä Fibre’s preparedness for the future: “We offer customers an optimized supply chain, fossil-free production, and are well positioned to fulfill upcoming sustainability requirements.”

…Leonardo Grimaldi then shifted focus to hardwood, providing a global view of bleached eucalyptus kraft pulp (BHKP) markets from the perspective of Brazil-based Suzano. He closed by showing that BHKP demand-to-capacity ratios are projected to remain under pressure through 2028, but may improve through a combination of fibre substitution, fossil-to-fibre applications, and unexpected supply shortages.

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Emerging Tools in the Pulp Sector: Carbon Removal and EU Deforestation Regulation Compliance

Kelly McCloskey, Editor
Tree Frog Forestry News
June 2, 2025
Category: Special Feature
Region: International

The final two presentations at Day 2 of International Pulp Week introduced delegates to emerging business and compliance tools with implications for pulp producers globally. One focused on capturing and monetizing biogenic carbon dioxide (CO₂), the other on meeting the fast-approaching requirements of the EU Deforestation Regulation (EUDR). Jonathan Rhone, CEO of CO280, began by stating that “capturing and permanently sequestering biogenic CO₂ from boiler stack emissions represents a $100 billion per year market opportunity for the global pulp and paper sector.” The market, he said, is being created by global technology and financial firms—“Microsoft, JPMorgan, Google”—that are purchasing high-durability carbon dioxide removals (CDRs) to meet their net zero obligations.

…Parker Budding, representing Osapiens, followed with a presentation on how pulp producers can prepare for the EU Deforestation Regulation (EUDR), which comes into force on December 31, 2025. The regulation prohibits companies from placing products on the EU market unless they can prove the goods are deforestation-free and legally produced.

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Opinion / EdiTOADial

Forest Product Prices And Section 232 Tariff Exposure: ERA

By Kevin Mason, Managing Director
ERA Forest Products Research
June 4, 2025
Category: Opinion / EdiTOADial
Region: Canada, United States, International

Kevin Mason

As investors struggle to understand the implications of trade wars and the current tariff regime in the US, we offer our thoughts on the likely impacts (broken down by commodity). We note that trade parameters continue to change dramatically (e.g., tariffs blocked by the courts but then overturned on appeal). To be clear, tariffs are taxes on imports, with the degree of cost-sharing between importer and exporter determined by supply and demand. Some commodities experienced pre-tariff demand pull-forward, but, across the board, tariffs have reduced buyer appetite for any inventory accumulation and have had a generally chilling effect on investment, planning and normal business activity. We note that the ongoing Section 232 investigation into timber and timber products is sure to target lumber, but it may also expand to many others forest products. Uncertainty is now a constant in the sector.

…Tariffs on Canadian lumber imports are on hold pending the outcome of a Section 232 investigation. However, the long-standing softwood lumber dispute rumbles on; with duty rates set to more than double in the second half of 2025, price risk for S-P-F appears to be upside-weighted from current levels. SYP producers—and perhaps to a lesser extent European lumber exporters—should benefit from a drop in the volume of S-P-F going to the US when/if higher duties/tariffs are implemented. OSB and plywood could also be impacted by the Section 232 outcome. In OSB, a tariff on Canadian imports would likely see needed mill downtime north of the border.

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Business & Politics

Trump tariffs to remain in place pending appeal, court rules

By Sarah Fortinsky
The Hill
June 10, 2025
Category: Business & Politics
Region: United States, International

A federal appeals court on Tuesday agreed to let many of President Trump’s sweeping tariffs on US trade partners remain in effect for now, extending a pause issued late last month after a separate court ruled the tariffs were illegal. The Federal Circuit Court of Appeals granted the Trump administration’s request for a longer pause after issuing a temporary stay of the lower court ruling last month. The court put the case on a fast track to be resolved by the end of this summer, noting that “these cases present issues of exceptional importance warranting expedited en banc consideration of the merits in the first instance.” The decision comes after the US Court of International Trade ruled on May 28 that Congress did not delegate “unbounded” tariff authority to the president in the International Emergency Economic Powers Act of 1977. Trump appealed the ruling and, hours later, the appeals court granted the temporary stay.

Related coverage in:

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US, China reach deal to ease export curbs, keep tariff truce alive

By Kate Holton, Alistair Smout and Andrea Shalal
Reuters
June 11, 2025
Category: Business & Politics
Region: United States, International

LONDON — US and Chinese officials said on Tuesday they had agreed on a framework to get their trade truce back on track and remove China’s export restrictions on rare earths while offering little sign of a durable resolution to longstanding trade tensions. …Lutnick said the agreement would remove restrictions on Chinese exports of rare earth minerals and magnets and some of the recent US export restrictions “in a balanced way”, but did not provide details…. adding that both sides will now return to present the framework to their respective presidents for approvals. …The two sides left Geneva with fundamentally different views of the terms of that agreement and needed to be more specific on required actions, said Josh Lipsky. …They have until August 10 to negotiate a more comprehensive agreement, or tariff rates will snap back from about 30% to 145% on the U.S. side and from 10% to 125% on the Chinese side.

Related coverage in:

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Will recent mergers in the global pulp and paper industry partly offset trade tensions?

By Simon Matthis
PulpaperNews.com
June 5, 2025
Category: Business & Politics
Region: United States, International

While the pulp and paper industry is inherently local—particularly in terms of production and sourcing of raw materials—trade is fundamentally cross-border and international. As a result, the sector is highly exposed to trade barriers and tensions, such as those created by the tariff policies introduced during the Trump administration. Tariffs are expected to put significant pressure on transportation and logistics—sectors that are intrinsically linked to the pulp and paper industry. This strain is partly mitigated by the fact that many pulp and paper companies have made substantial investments in overseas production capacity. Recent mergers in the industry, such as the Smurfit Kappa–WestRock merger and the International Paper–DS Smith merger, are also likely to offset some of the negative impacts of tariffs. These newly formed giants now operate production facilities in both Europe and the US. …This consolidation trend may render the pulp and paper industry more resilient. 

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Softwood to take centre stage at International Softwood Conference in Norway

By Stephen Powney
The Timber Trades Journal
June 10, 2025
Category: Business & Politics
Region: International

Timber industry consultant Stephen Sabine will give a UK market outlook at the International Softwood Conference (ISC) in Norway later this year. Mr Sabine, of JAM Timber Consulting and formerly a director of Consolidated Timber Holdings will highlight market dynamics in the UK covering softwood. …The conference part takes place on October 23. The European Organisation of the Sawmilling Industry and European Timber Trade Federation will cover European softwood developments from both a producer and user perspective. Paul Jannke, FEA, will explain the market in the US and Canada, while Fredrik Westling of Forssell Timber will tell delegates about the softwood sector in Japan. Setra’s Olle Berg will cover the Chinese market. …For more information visit ISC2025.

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EU targets Chinese plywood in latest defence of domestic industries

By Andy Bounds
The Financial Times
June 10, 2025
Category: Business & Politics
Region: International

The EU has imposed anti-dumping duties on Chinese plywood imports, just a few days after Beijing tried to ease trade tensions between the two. The provisional levies of up to 62.4% follow a surge in imports of hardwood plywood over the past three years that had damaged domestic producers, the European Commission said. The Greenwood Consortium of EU producers, which brought a complaint against Chinese competitors last year, said it welcomed the move but argued for “definitive duties to be even higher than these provisional levels” when the commission makes a final decision later this year. Brussels has also taken the unusual step of monitoring imports of softwood plywood, which is not subject to duties, after allegations that Chinese exporters were disguising hardwood products in anticipation of the levies. …“The alleged practice consisted of placing very thin outer layers of softwood veneer on top of the hardwood plywood face veneer.

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New EU deforestation rules progress, despite New Zealand opposition

By Monique Steele
The New Zealand Herald
June 5, 2025
Category: Business & Politics
Region: International

New Zealand exporters sending wood, beef and leather products to the European Union will soon have to comply with new rules that aim to reduce deforestation in the supply chain. New Zealand government officials and industry opposed the approach to anti-deforestation taken by the incoming European Union Deforestation Regulation (EUDR). This was due to increased compliance costs exporters would face in proving their products had not contributed to the loss of trees. …For New Zealand, this will affect the $213 million export trade. Exporters of wood products – a trade to Europe valued at around $100 million – would be required to provide traceability processes to show that their products did not contribute to deforestation, too. …The Wood Processors and Manufacturers’ Association’s Mark Ross, said a working group with forest growers, wood processors, and the Government had been set up to work through some issues, such as geolocation requirements.

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Finance & Economics

China’s Pulp Supply Chain: Insights on Trade, Logistics and Futures Markets

Kelly McCloskey, Editor
The Tree Frog Forestry News
June 4, 2025
Category: Finance & Economics
Region: Canada, United States, International

At International Pulp Week, three speakers discussed businesses that connect to China’s role in the global pulp industry — including trading, port logistics and the futures market. Haidong Weng, Executive Vice President of Pulp & Paper Research at Xiamen C&D… explained that after the US implemented its third wave of tariffs, Chinese exports of paper and board to the US fell sharply, with vessel density in major Chinese ports reflecting a significant pullback in trade flows. …He also described the cascading effects on US retail markets. …The scale and resilience of China’s port logistics were front and centre in a presentation by Tian Jun, representing the Shanghai International Port Group’s Luo Jing Terminal. Tian explained that SIPG views pulp as a strategic growth cargo across its network of general cargo terminals. …Another presentation came via video from Chi-Fei Fei of the Shanghai Futures Exchange (SHFE), who provided an overview of China’s pulp futures market.

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Pulp Markets Outlook: Global Tissue Growth to Ease, Printing Decline Slows

By Kelly McCloskey, Editor
Tree Frog Forestry News
June 4, 2025
Category: Finance & Economics
Region: Canada, United States, International

At International Pulp Week, Mathieu Wener, Senior Economist at Numera Analytics, provided a detailed overview of current trends in key end-use markets for pulp, with a particular focus on tissue and printing and writing papers. Drawing on recent data and modelling, he examined how these sectors have evolved post-pandemic, what is driving demand patterns today, and what may lie ahead. Wener began with tissue markets, where profitability has remained strong despite considerable cost pressures in recent years. “Producers passed through rising costs since 2022,” he noted, showing how eurozone parent roll and pulp prices had shifted over that period. Although price differentials between pulp and tissue had narrowed, margins remained healthy.” …Wener underscored the importance of tracking both macroeconomic forces and demographic trends in shaping pulp demand. For tissue, slowing population growth and cautious consumer behaviour would temper growth expectations. For printing and writing papers, the secular decline would continue, but at a somewhat more stable pace.

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Global Pulp Outlook: Short-Term Recovery, Structural Divergence Ahead

By Kelly McCloskey, Editor
Tree Frog Forestry News
June 4, 2025
Category: Finance & Economics
Region: Canada, United States, International

The final presenter at International Pulp Week, Emanuele Bona, VP of Europe for the Pulp and Paper Products Council (PPPC), provided a comprehensive update on global market pulp demand trends, with a particular focus on the rebound underway in 2025 and the longer-term outlook for key markets and product segments. Bona began by noting that 2024 had been a weak year for market pulp demand, with global chemical market pulp demand falling by 0.9 percent. However, the first months of 2025 showed a marked improvement. “In 2025, after four months, demand is up almost one million tonnes,” he reported. Both softwood and hardwood pulp segments contributed to this recovery. …Looking ahead, Bona projected that global market pulp demand would return to growth but at a more moderate pace. “Growth to average 1.5 percent through 2029,” he said. The long-term trend for softwood pulp was expected to remain flat at best, while hardwood demand growth was projected to slow despite ongoing substitution trends.

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US growth forecast cut sharply by Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) as Trump tariffs sour global outlook

By Sophie Kiderlin
CNBC News
June 3, 2025
Category: Finance & Economics
Region: Canada, United States, International

Economic growth forecasts for the US and globally were cut further by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OEDC) as President Trump’s tariff turmoil weighs on expectations. The US growth outlook was downwardly revised to just 1.6% this year and 1.5% in 2026. In March, the OECD was still expecting a 2.2% expansion in 2025. The fallout from Trump’s tariff policy, elevated economic policy uncertainty, a slowdown of net immigration and a smaller federal workforce were cited as reasons for the latest downgrade. Global growth, meanwhile, is also expected to be lower than previously forecast, with the OECD saying that “the slowdown is concentrated in the United States, Canada and Mexico”. “Global GDP growth is projected to slow from 3.3% in 2024 to 2.9% this year and in 2026. It had previously forecast global growth of 3.1% this year and 3% in 2026. …The OECD adjusted its inflation forecast, saying “higher trade costs will also push up inflation.”

Related news in the Financial Post: Canada to take brunt of one of the worst slowdowns since the pandemic, warns OECD

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Japan Still Sees Gradual Economic Recovery Despite Trump Tariffs; Trade Conflicts Continue Clouding Outlook Demand

Trading View
June 11, 2025
Category: Finance & Economics
Region: International

Japan’s government remains cautiously optimistic, sticking to its long-held conviction that the economy should be able to weather both external shocks on already sluggish growth and a cost-led surge in domestic inflation, repeating it is expected to stay on a “modest recovery” track. In its monthly report for June released Wednesday by the Cabinet Office, less than three weeks after the prior report, the government repeated that the economy is “recovering at a moderate pace but confronted by the uncertainty arising from the US trade policy.” Tokyo appears to have brought forward the release of its monthly report by about two weeks so that it could officially update the status of Japan’s economy before the leaders of the Group of Seven major nations gather for their annual summit at Kananaskis in the Canadian province of Alberta from June 15 to June 17. 

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Forestry companies shift focus to pine to meet demand for housing timber

ABC News Australia
June 4, 2025
Category: Finance & Economics
Region: International

An increasing demand for timber to meet Australia’s housing targets is set to drive a change in focus for one of Australia’s largest forestry regions. The Green Triangle, situated across the southern South Australia–Victorian border, has about 334,000 hectares of plantations, representing 17 per cent of Australia’s forestry industry. The region grows a mix of softwood timber, primarily used in domestic construction, and hardwood, which is often exported as wood chips and used in paper manufacturing. But as Australia looks to meet its goal of building 1.2 million new homes by 2029, investment in softwood is growing fast. “Both the state and the federal governments have incentives in place for industry and private investors to grow radiata pine,” University of Melbourne forest ecologist Rod Keenan said.

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New Forests enters Vietnam with Tavico investment

New Forests
June 4, 2025
Category: Finance & Economics
Region: International

New Forests, a global investment manager of nature-based real assets and natural capital strategies, is today announcing its Tropical Asia Forest Fund 2 (TAFF2) has made its first investment in timber processing infrastructure in Vietnam by investing in the Tavico Group (Tavico), one of the country’s leading suppliers of solid wood lumber and logs. Tavico was founded in 2005 as a log trader and sawn timber mill with annual production capacity of 12,000m3 of lumber per annum, which is equivalent to approximately 800 medium sized houses. Tavico has established a 3,200-hectare FSC certified community forestry program with small holder farmers which provides employment and revenue sharing opportunities for local communities. The investment from TAFF2 will look to expand this program for smallholder farmers in Vietnam.

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Wood, Paper & Green Building

Mass timber provides options amid steel tariffs: Timberlab CEO

By Matthew Thibault
Construction Dive
June 11, 2025
Category: Wood, Paper & Green Building
Region: International

Amid the chaos of tariffs and economic uncertainty, Chris Evans is feeling deja vu with regards to the construction supply chain. Evans, the president of Swinerton-owned mass timber firm Timberlab, has helped the company through the process of building up a domestic supply chain. Evans said the company noted a lack of domestic supply, exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic. That led company leaders, in 2021, to work toward helping the firm become more vertically integrated, with its own fabrication facilities and domestic supply, and a sawmill coming online in 2027. Timberlab brought its first fabrication facility online in 2020 and a second in 2022, employing computer numerical control fabrication techniques to create cross-laminated timber and glulam, critical mass timber components.

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Global forestry sector welcomes new ISO standard

By the International Sustainable Forestry Coalition
EIN Presswire
June 10, 2025
Category: Wood, Paper & Green Building
Region: International

EDINBURGH, SCOTLAND — The International Sustainable Forestry Coalition (ISFC) welcomes the release by the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) of its new Standard covering the way greenhouse gas accounting should be applied to wood and wood-based products. Until the publication of this Standard, there had not been an internationally agreed upon accounting approach for biogenic carbon emissions and removals – an important piece of the puzzle to support corporate climate action and reach global net zero targets. The new series is ISO 13391 Wood and wood-based products — Greenhouse gas dynamics, and covers all essential components of carbon accounting for the sector: carbon in forests, carbon in harvested wood products and potential greenhouse gas emissions avoided through the use of wood-based products instead of fossil-based products.

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Rotterdam’s first mass-timber apartment building is homage to its post-war housing blocks

By Jon Astbury
Dezeen Magazine
June 7, 2025
Category: Wood, Paper & Green Building
Region: International

©Powerhouse LinkedIn

Dutch studio Powerhouse Company has completed Valckensteyn in Rotterdam, a mass-timber block of affordable apartments that references the area’s iconic post-war social housing. Located in the neighbourhood of Pendrecht, the block of 82 affordable rental apartments is Rotterdam’s first mass-timber residential building. Completed for local housing corporation Woonstad Rotterdam, the block was designed by Powerhouse Company to be a homage to the neighbourhood’s iconic post-war housing blocks. …While concrete was used to construct both this central core and a ground floor plinth, the rest of the building was constructed from cross-laminated timber (CLT), which Powerhouse Company feels is an “essential” material for meeting housing demands. …”We believe that wood is the material of the future not only because of its environmental footprint benefits, but also for efficiency reasons,” Prins told Dezeen.

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Parent Company of the Big 4 Paper Sewing Pattern Brands Sold to a Liquidator

By Abby Glassenberg
Craft Industry Alliance
June 5, 2025
Category: Wood, Paper & Green Building
Region: International

The legacy sewing pattern brands Simplicity, Butterick, McCalls, and Vogue, commonly referred to as the Big 4, have been sold to a liquidator. The brands were owned by IG Design Group, a leading manufacturer and distributor of stationery products based in the UK. On Friday, the company announced it had sold its US division, IG Design Group Americas, which owns the sewing pattern brands, to Hilco Capital, a liquidation firm. IG Design Group cited the impact of tariffs imposed by the US as a factor. …The future of the Big 4 legacy pattern companies is now very uncertain as they own the last pattern tissue printers in the country, and that is significant to all the other pattern companies that rely upon it. …This could be a death knell for most printed sewing patterns like as there will no longer be a printer capable of producing large-scale tissue sheets.

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Floating timber neighbourhood proposed for Rotterdam

By Joe Quirke
Global Construction Review
June 4, 2025
Category: Wood, Paper & Green Building
Region: International

HOLLAND — Danish maritime architect Mast and construction company BIK bouw are proposing to build a floating neighbourhood at a disused dock in the centre of Rotterdam. The plan for the Spoorweghaven dock has received “initial support” from the Municipality of Rotterdam, Mast said in a press release, without giving details. The design is for 100 affordable units, public spaces and commercial areas. If built, Spoorweghaven would be Europe’s largest floating housing development. It would consist of prefabricated cross-laminated timber buildings that can be towed into place and anchored in the harbour. The idea is to minimise construction work on site and allow structures to be moved or repurposed instead of demolished. …It could also be handy in a flood. Mast said Spoorweghaven “doesn’t resist the water, but rises with it”.

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Forestry

Nebraska’s Craig Allen chairs international panel outlining forest resilience strategies

By Geitner Simmons
Nebraska Today
June 10, 2025
Category: Forestry
Region: United States, International

Craig Allen

NEBRASKA — An international panel chaired by Husker scientist Craig Allen is pointing to the crucial benefits forests provide and calling on countries to adopt well-informed resilience strategies. Forests face major challenges, locally and globally, from urban sprawl, conversion to agriculture, and climate stresses, raising concerns for communities, as well as for the planet’s climate. “Once a particular forest has been fundamentally changed, it is impossible to restore it to that same state again,” said Allen, a School of Natural Resources professor with the University of Nebraska–Lincoln’s Center for Resilience in Agricultural Working Landscapes. …The forest research organization released the report June 5, describing it as “the first of its kind to comprehensively explore how forests contribute to social and economic resilience in the face of disturbance and change, and how societies can, in turn, support and steward resilient forest systems.”

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Funds to tackle Europe’s forest fires poorly targeted, says EU watchdog

By Jennifer Rankin
The Guardian
June 11, 2025
Category: Forestry
Region: International

European funds to prevent forest fires have been poorly targeted and sometimes distributed in a hurry, according to a report from the EU’s spending watchdog. The number of forest fires in EU countries has increased dramatically over the last two decades as the climate crisis fuels ever bigger conflagrations. An area twice the size of Luxembourg has been consumed by flames in an average recent year, killing people, destroying homes and wildlife and sending megatonnes of planet-heating emissions into the air. The European court of auditors praised the decision to devote more money to preventing fires but said European-funded projects were not always spent where they could make the biggest difference. In Greece, authorities were using a map drawn up in 1980 to assess the risk of forest fires. In Portugal, one area selected as a priority for funds contained a zone that was underwater due to a recently built dam.

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Woodland Trust report calls for action to save woodland wildlife

By Zac Sherratt
BBC News
June 10, 2025
Category: Forestry
Region: International

Urgent action must be taken to avoid a loss of wildlife due to the “plummeting” condition of the UK’s woodlands, according to a new report. The report, published by the Woodland Trust on Tuesday, found that the quality of woodland is on the decline, despite a slight increase in tree cover. Woodland covers 24% of Surrey, making it the most wooded county in England. Abigail Bunker, director of conservation and external affairs at the trust, said: “We are calling on the government and others to invest in the management of our woodlands.” She said investing in woodland management would mean wildlife could experience the benefits “of these precious ecosystems”. Woodlands are becoming less effective as habitats for wildlife because they lack complexity, such as having enough trees of differing ages, states and sizes.

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The forest industry’s conundrum: The case of the Swedish forestry industry

Deloitte
June 4, 2025
Category: Forestry
Region: International

SWEDEN — To combat the growing risks from unsustainable business practices, governments and regulators worldwide require corporates to bring greater transparency and reporting to their sustainability impact. When comes to reporting, however, arguably, not all industries are the same. Forests are key to addressing both climate change and biodiversity loss, two of the most urgent challenges for the global community. …If reporting (and other) regulations are to encourage forestry organizations, and their stakeholders, to make more sustainable choices, more needs to be done to increase understanding of the specific sustainability impacts of the industry. Three key areas should be addressed: reporting models, underlying data, and success cases. …An evolving regulatory environment with potential broad implications for forest companies combined with a fragmented reporting landscape diminishes the useability of information for stakeholders as a steering tool. 

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New president and vice president at chartered foresters

By Elizabeth Birt
Institute of Chartered Foresters
June 6, 2025
Category: Forestry
Region: International

Andrew Sowerby & Gary Kerr

Edinburgh — A new president and vice president have been appointed at the Institute of Chartered Foresters. Andrew Sowerby, a fellow of the institute, has taken on the role of president, succeeding Geraint Richards. Dr Gary Kerr has been appointed vice president. Mr Sowerby, who recently joined Bronwin & Abbey Ltd as a director, said: “It’s a real honour to be elected as president of the Institute of Chartered Foresters. “The institute for me is more than an organisation, it’s a home, and has been a constant across my career spanning the public, private and third sectors. “I’m very much stepping into this role embracing the diversity and experience that defines our profession.” The appointment follows the institute’s annual general meeting on June 4.

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City to be covered by ‘urban forest’ within decade

By Jordan Davies
BBC News
June 2, 2025
Category: Forestry
Region: International

A quarter of a Welsh city will be covered by tree canopies within 10 years due to a new plan to boost its “urban forest”. Almost 30,000 trees will be planted in Newport to supplement about 250,000 existing trees. Wales was the first country in the world to measure its urban tree coverage. The council hopes these trees and others planted by private developers and landowners will take canopy cover in Newport – which at 18% had the highest proportion of any Welsh city in 2016 – to 25%. Joanne Gossage, service manager for environment and leisure at Newport council said the city had “green oasis” parks. She said: “We feel that Newport is a very green city and we don’t think it’s too far of a stretch to get to that 25%. “People’s perception of an urban forest is something dark, perhaps menacing and dingy. It’s not. It’s about trees making attractive frameworks in limited open space.”

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The War on Trees: How Illegal Logging Funds Cartels, Terrorists, and Rogue Regimes

By Justyna Gudzowska and Laura Ferris
Foreign Affairs News
June 2, 2025
Category: Forestry
Region: International

Around the world, nefarious state and nonstate actors are extracting enormous value from forests to fund their operations. The unlawful clearing of land and the harvest, transport, purchase, and sale of timber and related commodities have long been dismissed as a niche concern of environmental activists. But this is a mistake. Although unsustainable deforestation imperils the environment, illegal logging also poses an outsize—and underacknowledged—geopolitical threat. Environmental crime constitutes a growing economic and national security threat to the United States and countries around the world. Yet Washington has largely ignored illegal logging’s role in its fight against transnational criminal organizations, drug cartels, terrorists, and rogue regimes, as well as China’s part in this illicit trade. Thankfully, the blueprint for fighting transnational crime already exists: better cooperation among governments, increased enforcement, more transparent supply chains, public-private partnerships, and most important, following the money.

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Carbon, Climate & Bioenergy

‘Win-win’: new maps reveal best opportunities for global reforestation

By Damian Carrington
The Guardian UK
June 11, 2025
Category: Carbon, Climate & Bioenergy
Region: Canada, United States, International

New maps have revealed the best “win-win” opportunities across the world to regrow forests and tackle the climate crisis, without harming people or wildlife. The places range from the eastern US and western Canada, to Brazil and Columbia, and across Europe. If reforested, this would remove 2.2bn tonnes of carbon dioxide a year, about the same as all the nations in the European Union. Previous maps have suggested much larger areas but were criticised for including important ecosystems. …The result was a map showing 195 million hectares of reforestation opportunity, an area equivalent to the size of Mexico but up to 90% smaller than previous maps. …“Reforestation is not a substitute for cutting fossil fuel emissions, but even if we were to drive down emissions tomorrow, we still need to remove excess CO2,” said Dr Susan Cook-Patton, at The Nature Conservancy and author of the new study, published in the journal Nature Communications

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Safe Wood Pellet Storage

Wood Pellet Association of Canada
June 12, 2025
Category: Carbon, Climate & Bioenergy
Region: Canada, International

The Wood Pellet Association of Canada, FutureMetrics and Ørsted are hosting a one-day workshop—Safe Wood Pellet Storage: Preventing, Detecting, and Managing Self-Heating Incidents in Copenhagen, Denmark, on September 3, 2025. Join industry experts for a crucial discussion on the risks, detection, and prevention of self-heating incidents in wood pellet storage. This workshop will offer invaluable insights into major incidents, technical causes, risk mitigation strategies, and emergency response procedures, assisting professionals in enhancing safety standards across storage facilities. This workshop is a must-attend event for professionals seeking to enhance pellet storage safety, mitigate fire risks, and improve operational resilience in large-scale storage environments. Don’t miss this opportunity to engage with leading specialists and drive industry-wide improvements forward.

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Does planting trees really help cool the planet?

By Julie Bernstein
University of California, Riverside
May 29, 2025
Category: Carbon, Climate & Bioenergy
Region: United States, International

Replanting forests can help cool the planet even more than some scientists once believed, especially in the tropics. But even if every tree lost since the mid-19th century is replanted, the total effect won’t cancel out human-generated warming. …In a new study published in Communications Earth & Environment, researchers at the University of California, Riverside, showed that restoring forests to their preindustrial extent could lower global average temperatures by 0.34 degrees Celsius. That is roughly one-quarter of the warming the Earth has already experienced. The study is based on an increase in tree area of about 12 million square kilometers, which is 135% of the area of the US. …It is believed the planet has lost nearly half of its trees since the onset of industrialized society.  “Reforestation is not a silver bullet,” said Bob Allen, at UC Riverside and the lead author. “It’s a powerful strategy, but it has to be paired with serious emissions reductions.”

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New Zealand government sued over ‘dangerously inadequate’ emissions reduction plan

By Eva Corlett
The Guardian
June 10, 2025
Category: Carbon, Climate & Bioenergy
Region: International

Hundreds of top environment lawyers are suing the New Zealand government over what they say is its “dangerously inadequate” plan to reduce emissions to net zero by 2050. It is the first time the country’s emissions reduction plan has faced litigation, and the lawyers believe it is the first case globally that challenges the use of forestry to offset emissions. …two groups representing more than 300 lawyers filed judicial review proceedings against the government in Wellington’s high court on Tuesday. The groups … claim … the government has abandoned dozens of tools to tackle emissions, failed to adequately consult the public, and too heavily relies on high-risk carbon capture strategies such as forestry. …They claim that the government is relying on “high risk” methods such as planting hundreds of thousands of hectares of introduced pine trees to offset emissions, and capturing carbon underground, with few alternatives to fall back on if something goes wrong.

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Climate strikes the Amazon, undermining protection efforts

By Rhett Ayers Butler, Founder of Mongabay
Mongabay
June 5, 2025
Category: Carbon, Climate & Bioenergy
Region: International

Fires raged across the Amazon rainforest, annihilating more than 4.6 million hectares of primary tropical forest—the most biodiverse and carbon-dense type of forest on Earth. …It was the highest loss for the biome since annual records began in 2002. Sixty percent of that destruction was caused by fire—a record high. In Brazil, deforestation has plunged under President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, who moved swiftly to reassert environmental governance. But nature had other plans. Blistering temperatures and the worst drought in 70 years—fueled by climate change and compounded by El Niño—turned routine agricultural burns into runaway infernos. Lula’s reforms proved no match for an accelerating climate crisis or the long tail of past mismanagement. …What burns today is not only forest—it is also the hope that nature alone will heal. Without a concerted global response, the Amazon may soon pass the point of no return.

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New model evaluates efficiency of pistachio and walnut shells as low carbon fuels

University of Nottingham
June 4, 2025
Category: Carbon, Climate & Bioenergy
Region: International

Researchers from the University of Nottingham and CSIRO Australia have developed a pioneering combined milling and combustion performance model to improve the selection of low carbon fuels for power generation. Published in the Journal of the Energy Institute, the study evaluates the milling and combustion properties of five biomass types—pistachio shells, walnut shells, rice husks, palm kernel shells, and wood pellets. Currently, around 8.3 million tonnes of biomass is used annually for pulverised fuel (PF) combustion in the UK, which accounts for 21% of the global wood pellet market. This is dominated by wood pellets and wood chips, followed by recycled and waste wood, with other types of biomasses making up only around 1% of the total. The majority of the UK wood pellet demand is also met by imports, with the United States and Canada being the major suppliers.

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Mining giant Rio Tinto growing native pongamia trees for biofuel potential

ABC News Australia
June 2, 2025
Category: Carbon, Climate & Bioenergy
Region: International

Rio Tinto has started growing pongamia trees in northern Australia, as part of a biofuels project aimed at reducing the mining giant’s reliance on fossil fuels. Pongamia trees are native to Australia and produce oil-rich seeds that can be processed into renewable diesel… Earlier this year, Rio Tinto trialled 10 million litres of renewable diesel — created from used cooking oil — across its Pilbara iron ore operations in Western Australia. The biofuel got used across the supply chain, featuring in Rio Tinto’s rail, marine, haul trucks, surface mining equipment and light vehicles… Forestry Industry Association of the Northern Territory (FIANT) manager Hanna Lillicrap said it was great to see a major mining company getting involved in the forestry sector. “It reflects a growing recognition of the role forestry can play as a climate-positive solution in emissions reduction strategies,” she said. “It’s great to see serious investment going into research to better understand the species and its potential,” she said.

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Health & Safety

Canada wildfires smoke turns UK skies orange

By Matt Taylor
BBC News
June 8, 2025
Category: Health & Safety
Region: Canada, International

The sun and sky had a much more eerie appearance to it on Saturday evening and Sunday morning. It was a sign that smoke from wildfires burning more than 4,000 miles (6,400km) away in central Canada had made it across the Atlantic to sit in the skies over the UK. BBC WeatherWatchers from all corners of the country were out capturing the spectacle. …The change in the appearance of the sun and sky is due to smoke particles in the atmosphere scattering the blue wavelengths of light more, allowing predominantly orange and red hues to reach our eyes. …The presence of wildfire smoke from North America over the UK, whilst not common, does occasionally happen during the summer months. …Here in the UK, the smoke plume is at too high an altitude to affect our air quality.

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Forest Fires

Canadian fire smoke threatens air quality in Canada, US as it reaches Europe

France 24
June 4, 2025
Category: Forest Fires
Region: Canada, International

Canada’s wildfires have forced evacuations of more than 26,000 people and continue to spread with heavy smoke choking millions of Canadians and Americans and reaching as far away as Europe. Hazardous air quality alerts were issued for parts of Canada and the neighbouring United States. A water tanker air base was consumed by flames in Saskatchewan province, oil production has been disrupted in Alberta, and more communities are threatened each day. “We have some challenging days ahead of us,” said Saskatchewan Premier Scott Moe, adding that the number of evacuees could rise quickly. …Heavy smoke has engulfed part of the continent, forcing residents of four Canadian provinces and the US states of Michigan, Minnesota, Nebraska and Wisconsin to limit outdoor activities. …Elsewhere, extensive forest fires have been raging in Russia’s Far Eastern Federal District since early April, generating carbon emissions of around 35 million tons, Copernicus reported.

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