Enviva emerged from bankruptcy as a private company, with $1 billion less debt. In related news: San Group’s creditor protection hearings continue in a Vancouver court; Port Hawkesbury Paper says it shouldn’t have to pay for Nova Scotia Power’s bailout; and the Seattle Times urges caution on two new wood pellet plants. Meanwhile, Resource Work’s To-Do List for BC’s new Forest Minister; and Canada’s Green Party appoints a shadow forestry critic.
In Forestry/Climate news: the US is investing $265 million to save private forests from development; US Senator Lee introduces a Forest Service Accountability Act; Washington State researchers seek to identify illegally logged wood; and the EU recognizes carbon capture & storage in long-lasting wood products.
Finally, health and safety warnings over wood-burning stoves and fake Christmas trees.
Kelly McCloskey, Tree Frog Editor
The list of British Columbia forest product companies in financial trouble grows. San Industries and associated companies have 
A BC Supreme Court Justice has approved a short extension of creditor protection as a court monitor works with San Group to reorganize its business operations. The court-appointed monitor from Deloitte asked for the extension as he tries to clarify the value of the company’s assets. …In April, San Group’s Acorn mill in Delta was damaged by a significant fire. One claim for $12.1 million has recently been denied by the insurance company. The company is filing two more claims, jointly worth nearly $30 million. Also, the bomb cyclone was bad for San Group. Log booms in Alberni Inlet got loose, and management has reported losing $6 million in log inventory. The company has third parties trying to recover the logs. …All involved say they believe the company is working in good faith. …The monitor plans to have another report for the next court hearing about San Group’s future on Dec. 19.
Another B.C. sawmill company has filed for creditor protection and is planning a restructuring, underscoring the critical state of B.C.’s forest sector. The San Group has received creditor protection under the Companies’ Creditors Arrangement Act, as it undertakes a restructuring. Deloitte Restructuring Inc. has been appointed the company’s monitor. …In 2022, San Group announced the acquisition of Acorn Forest Products in Delta from Interfor. In April this year, the Acorn Forest Products mill was shut down when it was damaged by fire. According to documents filed with Deloitte Restructuring, Acorn Forest Products owes the Vancouver Port Authority $1.9 million in rent. …Under court ordered creditor protection, San Group… can carry on their business “in the ordinary course and in a manner consistent with the preservation of the business and the property. …In October, liens were placed on the company’s Port Alberni sawmill lands as security for nearly $22 million owed to the province in stumpage fees.
Ever since it was barely re-elected, the BC NDP government has promised a renewed focus on growing the economy, creating jobs and generating new sources of revenue. So it is perhaps surprising to hear that since the election, no cabinet ministers, nor the premier himself, have responded to requests to sit down and hear out a series of increasingly urgent concerns from the province’s top business leaders. …None of the ministers responsible for economic growth have responded to a meeting request from the so-called “G7” of B.C.’s business community — [which includes]… the Council of Forest Industries. …The groups issued a letter calling on all parties to prioritize the “deeply concerning” deterioration of the B.C. economy. …“Forestry has shed over 10,000 direct jobs in just four years and hundreds of millions of dollars of lost investment.
Lumber prices dropped below $570 per thousand board feet in December, marking a near one-month low, driven by strong supply and subdued demand. Rising production in the U.S., which is becoming more self-sufficient, has boosted supply, particularly in the U.S. South. While sawmill closures in Canada have had some impact, they have not significantly curtailed overall supply. Additionally, U.S. building permits continued their decline in October, dropping 0.6% following a 3.1% decrease the previous month, while housing starts fell 3.1%, missing expectations. Broader trends suggest ongoing challenges, including a rise in new home inventory, adding to over supply. Still, the potential impact of President-elect Trump’s proposed tariffs on Canadian lumber exports remains uncertain.
WASHINGTON, DC – The Fannie Mae Home Purchase Sentiment Index® (HPSI) increased 0.4 points in November to 75.0, continuing its sharp upward trend over the past year as consumers appear to be acclimating to the higher mortgage rate and home price environment. This month, a new record-high share of consumers indicated that they expect mortgage rates to decline over the next 12 months, while fewer respondents said they expect home prices to rise. While only 23% believe it’s a “good time to buy a home,” on net that component continued its upward trend, and is now notably higher than last November’s share of 14%. The share of respondents saying it’s a “good time to sell” remained flat month over month but is also up from last year. Year over year, the HPSI is up 10.7 points.
The U.S. exported 839,226.4 metric tons of wood pellets in October, down from 898,128.2 metric tons the previous month, but up from 835,490.8 metric tons in October 2023, according to the USDA Foreign Agricultural Service. The U.S. exported wood pellets to approximately a dozen countries in October. The U.K. was the top destination for U.S. wood pellet exports at 700,824 metric tons, followed by Denmark at 92,850.8 metric tons. The value of U.S. wood pellet exports fell to $154.72 million in October, down from $167.05 million in September and $155.41 million in October of last year. Total wood pellet exports for the first 10 months of 2024 reached 8.25 million metric tons at a value of $1.53 billion.
Exports of Southern Pine lumber (treated and untreated) are running 17% ahead of 2023 through the first three quarters of 2024, according to September data from the USDA’s Foreign Agriculture Services’ Global Agricultural Trade System. Southern Pine lumber exports were down 10% in the third quarter of 2024 over the prior quarter but up 11% over the same period in 2023. Exports were up 3% over August and up 20.9% over September 2023. …When looking at the report by dollar value, Southern Pine exports between January and September 2024 are running 9% ahead of the same period in 2023 at $168.7 million, with Mexico leading the way at $46.6 million, followed by the Dominican Republic at $41.3 million, and India at $13.1 million. Treated lumber exports, meanwhile, are flat over the year at $103.1 million led by Jamaica with $17.6 million, the Leeward-Windward Islands at $16.1 million, and the Dominican Republic at $8.4 million.
Exports from Finland’s forest industry reached Euro 3.16 billion in the third quarter of 2024, marking a 15% increase compared to the same period in 2023, according to the Natural Resources Institute Finland (Luke). Key contributors to the export value included paper (22%), cardboard (29%), pulp (21%), lumber (16%), and plywood (4%). …For the third quarter, total wood imports reached 1.37 million m3, 74% higher than in the corresponding period last year but down 1% from the second quarter of 2024. Of these imports, 68% were pulpwood, 21% were chips, and less than 2% were sawlogs. The wood product industry contributed Euro 0.76 billion in Q3 exports, reflecting an 18% year-on-year increase but a 16% decrease from Q2 2024. Lumber exports rose by 30% in value and 14% in volume compared to Q3 2023, while plywood exports increased by 9% in value and 19% in volume.
The U.K. is expected to import a record 9.641 million metric tons of wood pellets in 2024, according to a report filed with the USDA Foreign Agricultural Service’s Global Agricultural Information Network in November. The expected record in wood pellet imports for 2024 follows a significant decrease in U.K. wood pellet imports in 2023 and 2023, which the report attributes to changes in global wood pellet prices and competition from other energy sources. The U.K. primarily uses wood pellets for industrial energy production, with more than 93% of the country’s wood pellet demand in 2024 expected to be used for that purpose. …The U.S. is the largest supplier of wood pellets to the U.K., accounting for 73% of imports in 2023 by volume. Other sources of U.K. pellet imports are Canada, Latvia, the Netherlands, Estonia and Brazil.
A group of UBC academics has compiled a list of ways to ensure this Christmas has as little effect on the environment as possible. …“Natural Christmas trees are more sustainable than artificial ones, which produce three times the emissions,” says Jiaying Zhao, associate professor in the department of psychology and the Institute for Resources, Environment and Sustainability. She—also suggests renting potted Christmas trees. Johan Foster, a professor of chemical and biological engineering, says most fake Christmas trees contain polyvinyl chloride or PVC, which sheds microplastics indoors and is not good for children or pets. …Guangyu Wang, an associate professor in the faculty of forestry, suggests using a real Christmas tree and planting it in a biodegradable pot, which eliminates the environmental impacts of disposal, allows the tree to continue sequestering carbon and prevents methane emissions from trees decomposing in landfills.
The European Council has given the green light to the certification framework for carbon removals which includes carbon storage activities that capture & store carbon in long-lasting products for at least 35 years such as wood-based construction products. It is the first EU-level certification framework for permanent carbon removals, carbon farming and carbon storage in products. This voluntary framework will facilitate and encourage high-quality carbon removal and soil emission reduction activities in the EU, as a complement to sustained emission reductions. …Carbon removal activities will have to meet overarching criteria in order to be certified: they must bring about a quantified net carbon removal benefit, they must be additional, they must aim to ensure long-term storage of carbon while minimising the risk of carbon release and do no significant harm to the environment. In addition, activities eligible for certification will need to be independently verified by third-party certification bodies.
We are informed that Jackson Wijaya is becoming the beneficial owner of both Domtar, formerly known as Paper Excellence, and Asia Pulp and Paper (APP). Domtar is a company in good standing that has maintained FSC certification since 2008, covering over 7 million ha of forest area, as well as mills and processing plants. 
The U.S. government is investing $265 million in 17 states to save private forests from development, while improving rural economies, mitigating wildfire threats and reconnecting wildlife. The U.S. Forest Service recently announced the grants in its latest batch funded by the Forest Legacy Program. The October awards were made through Inflation Reduction Act funds. These new grants will help protect some 335,000 acres of vital forest lands in 21 projects. …“Landowners face many pressures to convert forests to other uses and this investment is key to keeping the economic, social, and ecological benefits that these forests provide,” Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack said Oct. 29 in press statement about the recent round of grants. …The total allocation for 2024 will amount to nearly $420 million in grants to 47 projects to save 500,000 acres of forest land. Over the last three decades since the program began, the federal government has saved 3.1 million forest acres in 479 completed projects.
J.P. Morgan Asset Management announced that institutional investors advised by the firm’s wholly-owned timber investment manager, Campbell Global, have led the acquisition of 40,800 productive acres of high-quality, commercial timberland located on the Olympic Peninsula in Washington state. The firm has named the property Tyee to acknowledge the Cascadia region’s indigenous Native American history. Campbell Global was acquired by J.P. Morgan Asset Management in 2021 and is recognized as a pioneer in timberland management, having managed more than five million acres worldwide for pension funds, foundations and other institutional investors since inception. Tyee will be continuously managed for both carbon capture and timber production to meet growing demand for sustainable building products and other uses. Some details of the property include 100% certified in accordance with Sustainable Forestry Initiative standards.
Minnesota Forest Industries, an association representing the state’s major forest products companies, has been awarded a Telly Award for a TV commercial it created in partnership with Hubbard Broadcasting. Titled “Trees absorb carbon, forest products store it,” the 30-second ad received a Silver Telly Award in the category of “Public Service & PSA – Local TV.” The Telly Awards honor excellence in video and television across all screens and receive more than 13,000 entries globally. The MFI spot features a scientist exclaiming “Eureka!” as she discovers “a solar-powered machine that removes carbon from the Earth’s atmosphere and transforms it into items humans use every day. A tree!” The award-winning ad can be seen at: 
Changes in cloud cover may account for why global temperatures for the past two years have exceeded the predictions of climate models. 2023 and 2024 saw temperature records repeatedly smashed, with both years now showing average temperatures around 1.5°C above the pre-industrial level. Climate change plus an El Niño weather pattern are partly to blame, but neither factor fully explains the extraordinary warmth. Now, 
