Derek Nighbor, President and CEO of the Forest Products Association of Canada, appeared before the Parliamentary Standing Committee on International Trade to outline the promise and complexity of growing Canadian forest sector exports to Japan — and to make a pointed case for sustained federal investment to make it happen. Canada currently ships roughly $1 billion annually to Japan, a figure Nighbor put in context: it reflects a century of Canadian forestry trade there and 50 years of work by the Canada Wood Group. “It’s a heavy lift,” he said. Against nearly $8 billion in annual softwood lumber exports to the United States — now facing combined duties and Section 232 tariffs in the 45% range — Japan is a real but incremental diversification opportunity. Canada holds 65% of Japan’s 2×4 dimension lumber market, built by actively developing a wood-building culture where one didn’t naturally exist. Holding and growing that share, Nighbor told the committee, requires sustained technical engagement on codes, standards, and the platform frame system — not simply shipping more product. He also flagged headwinds: declining Japanese housing starts, growing domestic Japanese lumber supply, aggressive European entry across lumber, pulp, and pellets, and tightening Japanese sustainability and traceability requirements.
Nighbor’s asks to the committee were specific. He called for dedicated multi-year funding for the Canada Wood Group to build on its export development work, and for doubling the funding of NRCan’s Global Forest Leadership Program. He asked for federal investment in market-entry infrastructure — spec alignment tools, testing labs, and distributor networks — applicable to both Japan and Korea. And he made the case for continued government-led trade missions, pointing to a BC and Alberta forestry-specific mission to Japan in November as the kind of targeted engagement that moves the needle. Beyond lumber, Nighbor identified mass timber and engineered wood — aligned with Japan’s housing renewal, decarbonization, and seismic resilience priorities — and bioeconomy products including biocarbon, biofuels, and biomass as the next frontier for Canadian forest exports to Japan.
San Group companies and federal bank launch multi-pronged legal attack after insurer denies claims over major 2024 fire in Delta. …At the heart of the dispute is Lloyd’s Underwriters and its move to deny a nearly $31-million insurance claim over claims the fire was not an accident, but a deliberate act of arson carried out by the owners. In a Dec. 30, 2025, letter Lloyd’s informed the Business Development Bank of Canada (BDC) and San Group subsidiary Acorn Forest Products that it was voiding the company’s primary and excess insurance policies. According to court documents, Lloyd’s determined the fire was “caused by arson perpetrated by Acorn, alone or in collusion with others” and through the acts or under the guidance of the company’s “directing minds.” The San Group has strongly denied the allegations. Both Acorn and its parent company maintain that Lloyd’s has failed to provide proof of arson and is using the allegation to avoid a massive payout.
A Nanaimo public hearing on a controversial rezoning application to allow for the industrial development of forested lands near Cedar is entering its third week. …The application was put forward last spring by Harmac Pacific, which operates the Nanaimo Forest Products site. The land is zoned as “rural resource,” meaning the property can’t be used for industry. The rezoning proposal includes a parkland designation for an 11.3-hectare section of “forested buffer” alongside the popular Cable Bay Trail. Paul Sadler, CEO of Harmac Pacific, said the company built the Cable Bay trail in 1990. “We’re interested in protecting it,” he said, adding that the buffer section would quadruple the size of the park area.Sadler said he feels that the public hearing process has been “hijacked” by those opposed to the rezoning… noting that any applications to use the site after it is rezoned would undergo environmental assessments and a government permit process.
LOUISIANA — Davis Timber Company, Inc. announced it will invest $1.9 million to expand its Beauregard Parish operations with new production capabilities that will enhance efficiency and strengthen Louisiana’s timber industry. The company is expected to create 12 direct new jobs while retaining 11 current positions. Louisiana Economic Development estimates the project will result in an additional nine indirect new jobs, for a total of 21 potential new job opportunities in the Southwest Region. …Davis Timber Company’s expansion will take place at its production facility within the Beauregard Regional Airport Industrial Complex in DeRidder, where the company produces poles and pilings used in utility and infrastructure applications. The project will add new processing capabilities to the existing operation, improving efficiency and enhancing product readiness for market.
UK — Forestry has long sat at the margins of the insurance market, often folded into broader property portfolios and lightly scrutinised. That position is becoming harder to sustain. The class now requires a level of focus and expertise the market has not always applied, said Daniel Longden, head of forestry at Orvia Underwriting. The sector differs from traditional property risks in one fundamental way: it is constantly changing. Trees grow, are harvested and replanted, altering the risk profile year by year. That dynamic sits alongside an exposure to catastrophe events that can erase entire areas in a single incident. …This variability complicates underwriting and limits the development of standardised data sets, helping explain why the class has remained relatively niche despite growing investor interest. …Where underwriters once relied heavily on historical loss data and third-party reporting, satellite technology now offers a more direct view of exposure.
The Bank of Canada held its policy interest rate at 2.25 per cent for the fourth consecutive time on Wednesday, but warned that it would be closely watching the impact of rising oil prices on inflation in the coming months amid ongoing uncertainty caused by the war in Iran. …Inflation has been close to two per cent for over a year but rose to 2.4 per cent in March after slowing to 1.8 per cent in February. The central bank base case forecast is that inflation will peak in April at about three per cent before returning to the two per cent target in early 2027, but that is assuming global oil prices decline. U.S. tariff measures along with the uncertainty surrounding the Canada-United-States-Mexico Agreement (CUSMA) have also added to the uncertainty ahead of the July 1 CUSMA review deadline, especially since the Canadian government has not yet launched formal discussions with U.S. officials.
VANCOUVER, BC — West Fraser Timber reported the first quarter results of 2026. First quarter sales were $1.334 billion, compared to $1.165 billion in the fourth quarter of 2025. First quarter earnings were $(188) million, compared to earnings of $(751) million in the fourth quarter of 2025. First quarter Adjusted EBITDA was $(66) million compared to $(79) million in the fourth quarter of 2025. Included in first quarter Adjusted EBITDA in the Lumber segment is ($114) million of duty adjustments related to prior periods compared to nil in the fourth quarter of 2025. …North America Engineered Wood Products segment Adjusted EBITDA of $11 million, and Europe Engineered Wood Products segment Adjusted EBITDA of $10 million. …Sean McLaren, West Fraser’s President and CEO said “Excluding the impact of prior year duty adjustments, we were pleased to see all of our core segments – lumber, NA EWP, and Europe EWP – report positive Adjusted EBITDA.” 
Lumber futures fell to $566 per thousand board feet, the lowest in seven weeks, as broader uncertainty and ongoing trade tensions weigh on sentiment. The US has recently outlined preliminary antidumping and countervailing duties on Canadian softwood lumber, with the antidumping rate reduced from 20.
RUSS TAYLOR provided the latest quarterly report from the 
WASHINGTON — U.S. consumer confidence unexpectedly edged higher in April amid a rally in share prices following a ceasefire in the war with Iran and improved perceptions of the labor market, helping to ease households’ financial worries for now. Despite the rise in confidence to a four-month high, the survey from the Conference Board on Tuesday showed higher gasoline prices stemming from the conflict with Iran remained a source of concern for consumers. Fewer planned vacations over the next six months and the share of those intending to drive to their holiday destinations was the lowest since April 2020. …The Conference Board said its consumer confidence index climbed 0.6 point to 92.8 this month. Economists had forecast the index easing to 89.0. It was in stark contrast with the University of Michigan’s Surveys of Consumers, which last week showed its Consumer Sentiment Index slumping to a record low in April.
NEW BRUNSWICK — Postmedia plans to stop printing most New Brunswick newspapers in Moncton. Postmedia publishes the Times & Transcript, Telegraph-Journal, Daily Gleaner and other local newspapers. They are printed and distributed from a building along Main Street in downtown Moncton. Dave Arsenault, president of the New Brunswick Media Guild, confirmed that print and distribution will cease in Moncton and be moved elsewhere. …”Following an assessment of printing and insert packaging operations, it was determined that outsourcing these operations from Postmedia’s Moncton facility would allow us to continue serving print subscribers and advertisers while supporting long-term financial sustainability,” the company said Wednesday. The printing will be outsourced out of province starting Aug. 2. Postmedia bought most of New Brunswick’s English-language newspapers from Irving-owned Brunswick News in 2022.
Sumitomo Forestry’s $4.5 billion Tri Pointe buyout was approved with more than 99% support, taking the combined Japanese-owned share of US single-family home construction from just 0.2 per cent in 2015 to close to 6 per cent in 2026. Sumitomo Forestry’s buyout of Tri Pointe Homes, one of California’s largest builders, was approved at a special meeting in Irvine, California, earlier this month, with the deal set to be completed by mid-year. The Tri Pointe transaction, first announced in February, is the largest US homebuilder acquisition by a Japanese forest-based conglomerate in history, and follows the same playbook Sumitomo has already run across Australia, where Japanese conglomerates wholly or partly own just under 30 per cent of the country’s top 20 housebuilders. …Tri Pointe gives the Tokyo-listed parent access to California and Nevada, the two major US growth states where Sumitomo… had no meaningful presence. 
