Incumbent David Eby clinches election for BC NDP, recounts will determine if it’s a majority. In related news: the United Steelworkers says both parties were pro-forestry; Geoff Russ says the potential minority is bad for forestry; and Nelson Bennett says the winners will face economic headwinds, regardless. In other Business news: Stora Enso acquires Finnish sawmill company Junnikkala; PotlatchDeltic reports Q3 earnings of $3.3 million; and lumber prices tick up again.
In Forestry/Climate news: prescribed burning is used to fight west Texas wildfires; the US Forest Service decision to halt prescribed burns in California is panned; putting Washington’s forests into carbon markets to address climate change; the UN says the world is on pace for more warming without action; COP16 reports trees at risk but also progress in biodiversity protection; and Australia is developing emissions standards for forestry.
Finally, the Global Wood Summit kicks off in Vancouver. Check here for daily updates.
Kelly McCloskey, Tree Frog Editor
The Global Wood Summit will feature the US Lumber Coalition’s Executive Director—Zoltan van Heyningen. The two-day conference on the state of the forest sector and global markets and trade takes place October 29 and 30 in Vancouver. The long running US-Canada softwood lumber dispute and the current import duties impact huge volumes of Canadian lumber exports to the US. Countervailing and anti-dumping duties are currently in place that are tied to annual Administrative Reviews where duty rates change. Zoltan will follow the panel of experts on North American lumber markets, discussing some of the background to US trade law and duties and how it impacts Canadian lumber exports to the US. Delegates to the Global Wood Summit will see over 30 speakers from around the world to discuss what is going on in the world of forest products and what the outlooks will be for 2025. Click here for the conference 
VANCOUVER — Canfor Pulp Products reported its third quarter of 2024 results. Overview: Q3 2024 operating loss of $209 million, includes a $211 million asset write-down and impairment charge in the pulp segment resulting from further deterioration in economic fibre availability following recent BC Interior sawmill closure announcements. After taking into consideration one-time items, Q3 2024 operating income of $2 million compared to similarly adjusted operating loss of $6 million in Q2 2024. Modest improvement in NBSK pulp unit sales realizations driven by steady North American pulp pricing through most of the third quarter and favourable timing lag in shipments, despite weak demand in China and notable increase in pulp producer inventory levels. …CPPI’s CEO, 
VANCOUVER, BC — West Fraser Timber reported Q3, 2024 results. Third quarter sales were 
Persistent upward movement in framing lumber prices left many items approaching their highs for the year in the fourth quarter. The current supply-driven run has pushed the Random Lengths Framing Lumber Composite Price to its fourth consecutive weekly increase. The front month in lumber futures continued to trade at a slight premium to the physical market, but the January contract opened a sizable spread with cash. …Mills in the South continued to push for double-digit price hikes with moderate success. Most Southern Pine prices continued to climb. However, buyer resistance to the highest mill quotes grew more intense as the week progressed. …Coast dimension sales continued to outpace production, keeping upward pressure on some prices. Board markets remained on a divergent trend. Producers continued to adjust prices predominantly downward.
The Forest Sector Outlook – 2024-Q2 report features global economic and forests/industry/market updates from all continents around the world. The report includes regional reviews on local market and industry developments in wood products and timberlands for each region. This 13-page report can be found on the RUSS TAYLOR GLOBAL 
Texas forests were still relatively pristine and ancient as late as 1870, with centuries-old trees towering as high as 150 feet. But then came the “bonanza era” of widespread deforestation. By 1907, Texas became the third largest lumber producer in the United States, making lumber barons such as John Henry Kirby incredibly wealthy. In 1936 President Franklin Roosevelt established Texas’ four national forests — Sam Houston, Davy Crockett, Angelina and Sabine — in East Texas. By then, little remained of Texas’ once-mighty forests. The relentless exploitation devastated ecosystems and diminished biodiversity, leaving behind fragmented landscapes that can’t sustain the wildlife species who make their habitat in Texas forests. …And decades later, though the Forest Service says there are no old-growth forests in the national forests of Texas, we now have 400,000 acres of mature forests. …But logging of older trees continues in our national forests. [to access the full story a Houston Chronicle subscription is required]
The world is on a path to get 1.8 degrees Celsius (3.2 Fahrenheit) warmer than it is now, but could trim half a degree of that projected future heating if countries do everything they promise to fight climate change, a United Nations report said. But it still won’t be near enough to curb warming’s worst impacts such as nastier heat waves, wildfires, storms and droughts, the report said. Under every scenario but the “most optimistic” with the biggest cuts in fossil fuels burning, the chance of curbing warming so it stays within the internationally agreed-upon limit “would be virtually zero,” the United Nations Environment Programme’s annual Emissions Gap Report said. ..Instead the world is on pace to hit 3.1 degrees Celsius (5.6 degrees Fahrenheit) since pre-industrial times. But if nations somehow do all of what they promised in targets they submitted to the United Nations that warming could be limited to 2.6 degrees Celsius (4.7 degrees Fahrenheit), the report said.
