Softwood lumber shipments from Canada’s Top 10 producers were static in 2020, as total Canadian shipments dropped 5.2 per cent. In related news: Europeans capture more US market share; how US producers can up their output; lumber imports fall 20% in China; and consolidation is gathering pace in the UK timber sector. Meanwhile, companies in the news include: PotlatchDeltic (strong Q1 results); Paper Excellence (updates for Mackenzie, BC and Boat Harbour, Nova Scotia); NewLife Forest (sawmill opening in  Arizona); and ND Paper (expansion in Maine).

In Forestry news: a new report says habitat protection is key to BC’s threatened Caribou herds; post-fire logging is blamed for the decline of US spotted owls; ENGO’s challenge proposed logging in Yellowstone National Park; and two retired forestry professors call for protection of older forests in the western Cascades.

Finally, lignin from forests—the secret ingredient for greener roads?

Kelly McCloskey, Tree Frog Editor