The list of British Columbia forest product companies in financial trouble grows. San Industries and associated companies have sought financial restructuring under CCAA, according to a court filing on November 29, 2024. …San Industries Ltd. et al, otherwise known as the San Group, have a reputation for pushing the envelope on the value-added manufacturing file, attempting to change the conventional approach to forest products manufacturing in coastal BC. …The San Group has no forest tenure of its own and relies on BCTS timber sales and commercial agreements to source its logs.
Regardless of the management decisions of this company and others that have contributed to their financial troubles, the trend is nonetheless alarming. When combined with the knowledge that companies like Interfor have made the strategic decision to exit the BC coastal forest sector, while Canfor and others are closing sawmills in the interior – there is an undeniable reality that what is occurring is unique to British Columbia – there is a common thread underlying all of this.
Is it best to let sawmills and other manufacturing plants fall to the wayside, and let our forests go unharvested? Should British Columbians including those in rural communities continue to tolerate deteriorating investment conditions for BC’s forest products manufacturing sector, or for that matter, the natural resources sector, in general? Absolutely no! The trick is to find the balanced solutions needed to generate prosperity while achieving other values. Unfortunately, efforts by the provincial government of the last few years have failed as this dismal trend continues. Immediate and meaningful action is needed. More troubles are coming.
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.
When U.S. President-elect Donald Trump said he would immediately put tariffs on all goods being imported from Canada, Mexico, and China, people sat up and paid attention. Not just politicians but the general populations of the countries involved, even Americans. …A tariff is a tax or import duty placed by one country on imports from another country or countries. It effectively raises the cost of bringing foreign goods into a country and is usually used as a form of political leverage, a form of increasing revenues or to protect domestic industries by the importing country. Perhaps the best-known tariff currently in place against Canada is the softwood lumber tariff. …This added cost to our lumber makes it more expensive to U.S. buyers than a U.S.-produced product. …A tariff is a lose/lose deal.
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.
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.
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. 
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.
HOBART, Tasmania — In news that surprises no-one, a coalition of formerly ‘moderate’ green groups have renounced their apparent prior support for native forestry. Under the 
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, 
