Rodrigo Marchi, Managing Director for the Americas at Suzano, framed his presentation around a central commercial argument: that eucalyptus-based hardwood pulp has moved well beyond its historical role as a cost-reduction tool and is now a performance fibre capable of helping customers compete on product quality.
Rodrigo Marchi
The presentation drew on Suzano’s experience working across tissue, packaging, and printing and writing grades, with a particular focus on substitution opportunities, the structural shift away from softwood, and what Marchi described as a deintegration strategy that is reshaping how some mills approach their fibre furnish. Marchi opened with the demand picture for hardwood pulp, noting the sustained growth trajectory that has characterized the segment over the past two decades, driven primarily by China.
US President Donald Trump’s administration on Monday asked a US court to pause its ruling against the administration’s 10% global tariff while the federal government pursues an appeal. Last week, the US Court of International Trade ruled that the president’s 10% temporary global duties were unjustified under a 1970s trade law. But the court only blocked the levies for two private importers and the state of Washington. The court ruled that Trump’s imposition of the tariffs under Section 122 of the Trade Act of 1974 was misguided. In February, Trump imposed the so-called global tariff of 10 per cent after the U.S. Supreme Court struck down some tariffs the U.S. president had implemented under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act. CUSMA-compliant Canadian exports heading to the U.S. were exempt from the global tariff.
President Trump said federal agencies “must buy American”, doubling down on his push to prioritize the use of products manufactured, developed and produced in the US. …Government agencies are generally required to buy American-made products under the Buy American Act of 1933, which mandates that federal agencies acquire domestic end products for public use. However, there are several exceptions to the law including unreasonable cost, product unavailability and if domestic preference would be inconsistent with the public interest. Trump has long criticized government agencies for signing too many waivers. In a March executive order entitled “Ensuring Truthful Advertising of Products Claiming To Be Made in America,” Trump pushed forward efforts to crack down on false claims of American-made products.
FLORIDA — On the heels of Escambia County adopting an ordinance to establish an Economic Development Ad Valorem Tax Exemption (EDATE) for West Fraser, the sawmill company announced a $70.25 million expansion, creating 30 new jobs. The board voted to approve the ordinance, which will give the Canada-based lumber company a 70% ad valorem tax exemption for a period of five years. Shortly after the vote, FloridaWest Economic Development Alliance announced that West Fraser has invested $70,250,000 in capital expenditures to expand its existing sawmill operation in McDavid. …The project is expected to generate substantial economic activity across Escambia County, supporting local suppliers, contractors and service providers. …Over the next five years, the estimate of the taxable value lost to the county is $70,252,000 improvements to real property, and $3,400,000 to tangible personal property.
NEW YORK — Mercer reported first quarter 2026 Operating EBITDA of $7.8 million, a decrease from $47.1 million in the same quarter of 2025 and an increase from negative $20.1 million in the fourth quarter of 2025. In the first quarter of 2026, net loss was $52.0 million compared to $22.3 million in the same quarter of 2025 and $308.7 million in the fourth quarter of 2025. Mr. Juan Carlos Bueno, CEO, stated: “Our pulp sales realizations showed resilience this quarter as softwood pulp markets held steady, while hardwood pulp performance trended upward on favorable demand-supply dynamics. However, elevated fiber costs across our supply chain and a slower-than-anticipated recovery in prices continued to weigh on our results. …Mass timber momentum continues to build, backed by an order book and commitments of $171 million that support a multi-year production plan. …European softwood pulp prices increased compared to the fourth quarter of 2025 due to supply constraints, although these gains were offset by higher discounts.
A panel at the 2026 SFI Annual Conference — Leveraging SFI Certification for Global Reporting Frameworks and Market Assurances — took on one of the more pressing questions facing the forest sector: as global disclosure frameworks multiply and investors demand quantifiable outcomes, does forest certification still do the job? Shenandoah Johns, Chief Environment and Sustainability Officer at West Fraser, walked through five major disclosure frameworks that have arrived in the last five years and identified the gap between what certification was designed to demonstrate and what regulators are now asking for. Paige Goff, VP Sustainability at Domtar, made the case for not overcomplicating what is already working. Kirsten Vice, Senior VP Sustainability and Canadian Operations at NCASI, framed 2026 as a year of influence — with key nature-related frameworks being finalized — and called on the sector to shape its own targets before others do it for them. Jason Metnick, President of SFI, moderated.
The Bureau of Land Management has repealed the Conservation and Landscape Health Rule, commonly referred to as the Public Lands Rule, which put conservation on equal footing with mining, logging, and grazing of public lands. The rule required science-based decision-making, conservation considerations within multiple land uses and a focus on sustaining public lands for the long-term benefit of wildlife and the American people. “Today’s repeal of the Public Lands Rule abandons progress at the same moment climate change, chronic drought and accelerating habitat loss demand better stewardship from BLM,” said Maddy Munson, senior planning and policy specialist for federal lands at Defenders of Wildlife. …“This fits a pattern of brazen attempts to sell off and sell out our shared public lands at the expense of public access and conservation,” added Beau Kiklis, associate director of energy and landscape conservation at the National Parks Conservation Association.
WASHINGTON — The Intertribal Timber Council (ITC) expressed deep disappointment following the European Commission’s release of its EUDR simplification review, saying the package offers no meaningful relief for Indigenous Tribal Nations and leaves major concerns raised by Tribal forest managers unresolved. Despite months of engagement from Tribal representatives and repeated warnings about unintended impacts on Indigenous communities, the Commission declined to reopen the regulation and instead proposed only limited technical adjustments through implementing acts, FAQs, and guidance documents. As a result, compliance obligations affecting Tribal Nations in low-risk countries remain fundamentally unchanged. …US Tribal Nations manage 7.8 million hectares of forestland under sovereign governance systems. …The ITC is calling on the European Commission to recognize Tribal forests in the United States as low-risk, legally protected systems.
…I recently wrote about how the Trump administration’s efforts to reorganize the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) Forest Service and shutter 57 of its 77 research and development (R&D) facilities isn’t really about efficiency—it’s about hollowing out another science agency whose mission is to protect people, places, and livelihoods. The Forest Service has since updated its website to qualify that these R&D closures are “possible” but not a foregone conclusion. Yet, as details emerge, one thing is painfully clear: this plan would dismantle the world’s premier—and largest—wildfire research agency when wildfire risk, climate impacts, and economic losses are accelerating. Given increasing severity of wildfires, losing this research would diminish our understanding of managing forests under climate change. Trump’s plans to end climate studies, allowing forest fuel loads to build and diseases to spread, leaves our hands tied as we try to prevent wildfires without the benefit of evidence-based science.
LAKE TAHOE BASIN, Calif. – A yearlong investigation by Mother Jones is casting new scrutiny on the use of glyphosate in California forests at the same time the U.S. Forest Service Lake Tahoe Basin Management Unit plans to use the controversial herbicide across thousands of acres in the Lake Tahoe Basin. Glyphosate, commonly sold under the brand name Roundup, is widely used to kill shrubs and hardwood vegetation that compete with replanted conifers after fires and logging operations. However, the herbicide has long been controversial. In 2015, the cancer research arm of the World Health Organization classified glyphosate as a “probable carcinogen,” and manufacturer Bayer has paid more than $12 billion in settlements tied to lawsuits alleging the herbicide caused cancer.
The American Forest Resource Council warns that Washington’s Department of Natural Resources is headed for deep budget trouble that will result in state worker layoffs and force taxpayers to foot more of the bill to keep the agency running. Counties that rely on logging revenue from land the agency manages could be at financial risk, too. While it’s become common for the group to clash with the department, they’re not the only ones complaining. Foresters inside the agency are pointing to Public Lands Commissioner Dave Upthegrove’s decision to pause some timber sales for eight months as a reason for the looming deficit in a key operating account, which covers many of the department’s expenses for managing timberland. …Upthegrove and other agency leadership say … it has less to do with recent timber sale activity on state land and more to do with the timing of when logging revenue reaches the agency. 
Oregon’s congressional Democrats on Wednesday warned that federal agencies tasked with helping prevent and fight fires in the Northwest could be understaffed and underprepared going into the 2026 fire season. Oregon’s U.S. Sens. Ron Wyden, Jeff Merkley, and Portland and Willamette Valley-area U.S. Reps. Suzanne Bonamici and Andrea Salinas left a Wednesday wildfire season briefing at the Northwest Interagency Coordination Center in Portland with “deep concerns” about federal agencies’ capacity to respond to what’s expected to be a long and severe fire season in the region. The center is the headquarters for a wildfire prevention and response network that includes nine state and federal agencies across the West. The lawmakers said budget cuts and the loss of staff at federal science and land management agencies — especially at the U.S. Forest Service, tasked with the largest share of federal wildland fire prevention and response — have created needless uncertainty and chaos.
LAKE TAHOE, Calif./Nev. – An annual aerial survey that monitors forest health was significantly reduced in 2025 due to a lack of funding, resulting in many portions of California forests, including the Tahoe area, not being included. Since 2006, the U.S. Forest Service Pacific Southwest Region’s Aerial Survey Program has flown over California forests every year to observe and document tree mortality, defoliation, and other damage. These annual estimates capture tree mortality patterns and trends, which researchers and foresters use to monitor ecosystem disturbances often caused by insects and disease. The information is also important for fire behavior forecasting. Typically covering large swaths of California landscape and a majority of national forests in California, including the Tahoe National Forest and the Lake Tahoe Basin Management Unit, 2025’s survey was limited to Southern California forests and the far southern Sierra Nevada. The report states surveys were conducted in areas where 2025 drought conditions were most severe.
Many US pellet exporters are evaluating new potential markets abroad to diversify their portfolios and adjust to evolving policy landscapes. At the same time, other countries around the world are increasing production and use of wood pellets as a coal replacement for power generation, as well as renewable heating option for residential heating systems and industrial utilization. From Vietnam to smaller markets such as Poland, global wood pellet production continues to grow. …US manufacturers produced over 11 million tons of wood pellets in 2025, including premium and utility pellets. A majority of that volume was exported—an estimated total of 9.37 million tons last year. Globally, pellet producers are experiencing a tug of war between increased biomass use due to decarbonization efforts and increased scrutiny from programs such as the European Union Deforestation Regulation and other countries’ evolving policy mechanisms. …Finding new substantial markets for US pellets may prove to be a challenge. 
OSCODA COUNTY, Mich. — Crews are working to contain a wildfire in Oscoda County after it prompted evacuations Monday. The wildfire is about 100 acres and primarily on national forest land around Camp Ten Road near Lost Sky Ranch. Residents living near Camp 10 Road were evacuated to a shelter Monday afternoon, but were able to return home several hours later. Monday night officials said two structures were destroyed and the fire was about 80 percent contained. …A Red Flag Warning is in effect for parts of Michigan due to critical fire weather, including high winds, low humidity and dry vegetation.