Mercer plans to file for prepackaged Chapter 11 bankruptcy, exchanging $1.1 billion of senior notes for equity. In related news: GILLFOR finalized acquisition of Teal-Jones Group; Drax makes plans for a biomass-powered data centre; Nippon Dynawave’s president retires, as the company appeals a safety fine; Boise Cascade reported Q3 earnings of $36M; Vietnam approved a pulp and paper expansion strategy; and US homebuilding faces rising costs, while construction spending weakened. Meanwhile: how Trump plans to govern if Democrats take Congress; and US Secretary Lutnick pushed to revive trade talks with Canada.
In Forestry/Bioenergy news: Canada sought to advance biodiversity at COP17; Yukon received funding to improve timber access; Parks Canada job cuts raised concerns in Jasper; Greenpeace criticized IKEA’s wood sourcing; Fort Frances received support for biomass energy; an Alberta-Pacific engineer was recognized for STEM advocacy; and Michigan researchers studied the conversion of storm-damaged timber into biochar.
Finally, registration opened for the 2027 COFI Convention; and Calgary’s Wood Solutions Conference opens this week.
Kelly McCloskey, Tree Frog News Editor
Canadian pulp producer 
OTTAWA — US Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, whose last-minute demands led to trade talks breaking down in August, has become the “driving force” pushing Canada and the US to re-engage on a deal. Sources say Lutnick initiated the re-engagement just over 10 days ago, and has centred talks around the Section 232 tariffs that apply to steel, aluminum, lumber and autos because that is his purview. These are tariffs U.S. President Donald Trump imposed in the name of national security. The duties in place are up to 50% on steel, aluminum and copper, 25 per cent on vehicles, an additional 10% on softwood lumber, and 25% on certain furniture and cabinetry. Should more formalized negotiations pick back up later this week, those talks could bring back into the fold US Trade Rep. Jamieson Greer and involve elements outside of the Section 232 tariffs. Sources say that will likely include Keystone XL, diesel and energy exports more largely.
President Trump’s White House has spent months preparing for a possible Democratic takeover of Congress, developing plans to keep advancing major parts of his agenda through executive power while bracing for investigations of his administration. …The planning underscores a paradox of Tuesday’s midterm elections: Capturing control of Congress would give Democrats the power to investigate Trump, block legislation and constrain his spending priorities. But Trump would retain broad executive authority over trade, foreign policy and the federal bureaucracy that he has already used aggressively during his second term. …Among the executive actions under consideration are new tariffs on imports of critical minerals and wind turbines, tighter rules on visas for international students and temporary foreign workers, and measures aimed at lowering housing and construction costs, a White House official said. …House Democrats and committee aides have discussed using hearings, subpoenas and document requests.
VIETNAM — Standing Deputy Prime Minister Pham Gia Tuc has just approved the Strategy for the Development of the Paper Industry for the period up to 2030, with a vision to 2045. The overall strategy aims to develop Vietnam’s paper industry, meeting all domestic consumption and production needs; and to boost exports of products with competitive advantages. …By 2030 , the paper industry aims to achieve an average annual growth rate of 10% or more in paper and pulp production, meeting domestic demand and targeting exports, reducing imbalances and dependence on imports; and an average annual increase of at least 4.0% in export turnover during the period up to 2030. …Businesses are encouraged to invest in 5 to 10 new paper mills with a capacity of over 250,000 tons of paper per year; 2 to 5 pulp mills with a capacity of 200,000 tons of pulp per year or more; and 2 to 5 high-quality paper mills requiring advanced technology.
US construction spending fell in September, nearly reversing the prior month’s upwardly revised jump, likely because high materials costs depressed outlays on residential renovation projects. The Commerce Department’s Census Bureau said that construction spending fell 1.9% after an upwardly revised 2.0% increase in August. Economists had forecast construction spending would climb 0.3% after a previously reported 0.9% rise in August. Construction spending dropped 2.7% on a year-over-year basis in September. Spending on private construction projects decreased 2.4% in September after gaining 2.6% in August. Investment in residential projects slumped 5.5% in September, likely reflecting weakness in renovations. Outlays on single-family housing projects were unchanged but down 2.4% on a year-over-year basis. …The average rate on a 30-year fixed-rate mortgage has soared by at least 125 basis points since the war started in late February, data from mortgage finance firm Freddie Mac showed.
Tariffs have raised the prices of materials ranging from drywall to windows to lumber. President Trump’s 50% tariff on imports of aluminum, for example, which is used for siding, window frames and gutters, has combined with higher energy bills to push up prices for the material dramatically. Home builders also face rising costs for distribution, storage and transportation of materials and tools. Soaring diesel prices have raised costs for trucking firms delivering plywood, concrete and floorboards to jobsites. Wholesalers and retailers are lifting prices because of rising expenses tied to tariffs and energy inflation. Labor is getting harder to find and more expensive too. Many skilled tradespeople are opting to work on lucrative data-center projects rather than on homes. Meanwhile, the Trump administration’s crackdown on immigration and sharp increase in deportations have devastated home builders’ workforces in some parts of the country. [to access the full story a WSJ subscription is required]
Almost half of the Parks Canada employees trying to help Jasper, Alberta, recover from a devastating 2024 wildfire could be among about 500 full-time staff facing job cuts nationwide. This news comes after nearly 3,000 Parks Canada staff around the country were sent letters notifying them of the upcoming cuts, and giving them the chance to voluntarily retire ahead of job losses. Of the roughly 3,000 letters sent by Parks Canada, 208 went to members of the 422-person Jasper Field Unit. Nearly two years after wildfire tore through Jasper, forcing the evacuation of the town and nearby Jasper National Park, Parks Canada crews are still busy cleaning up according to the federal government’s 
WINNIPEG, Manitoba — Canada’s biofuels industry warned that some gaps remain in the government’s proposed rules aimed at matching US incentives, and that the changes are unlikely to spur investment in the world’s top canola producer. Under the proposed rules, unveiled over the weekend, Canadian biofuel producers would receive more credits from the government for producing biofuels in Canada. To meet low carbon emissions intensity limits, they can either produce low-intensity fuels themselves or buy credits from others. The changes would replace a system in which only the use of biofuels earns credits, and foreign-produced fuels receive the same amount. They are designed to “close the competitiveness gap facing Canadian low-carbon fuel producers so they can compete fairly with US producers,” Canada’s government said. …The rules include different rates for ethanol, biodiesel and other alternative fuels.
GERMANY — Manske is the deputy director of the Fichtelberg forest district, one of 41 districts operated by Bavarian forestry officials. …In 1713, Hans Carl von Carlowitz, the chief mining administrator in neighboring Saxony, published Sylvicultura oeconomica, the first comprehensive book on forestry. His problem was wood — specifically the lack of it. Saxony’s mines and smelters were burning through forests faster than they could grow back, and Carlowitz argued that the country needed a “continuous, steady and sustaining use” of its timber or it would not survive. …“We invented sustainability here,” Manske says. …The fix was spruce. So foresters replanted the mountains with almost nothing else. The result is the forest that lines the Ochsenkopf road today. …The plan is to make the forest harder to wipe out by increasing biodiversity. Foresters cut a few trees to let light reach the ground and plant two to five other species under the remaining canopy.