A Canadian coalition of local managers, workers and First Nations is seeking to purchase and restart RYAM’s Témiscaming mill. In related news: workers returned to Washington’s Longview paper mill following May accident, Mercer is preparing to resume pulp production at its German mill; a Japanese manufacturer plans to create jobs at Western Forest Products’ Chemainus site; Ontario is supporting forestry startups; and the US published notice of last week’s NAFTA panel ruling on lumber duties. Meanwhile: Russ Taylor opines on BC’s need for market diversification; and Numera’s Chart of the Day points to higher inflation.
In Forestry/Climate news: NRCan released a climate adaptation guidebook for forest-based communities; the TLA’s Peter Lister says BC forestry contractors hold the key to large-scale wildfire mitigation; the NY Times says weak timber markets are undermining US wildfire efforts; northern Ontario explores European opportunities for wood fibre; and Woodlots BC outlines its election priorities.
Finally, CELCO 2026 features IKEA and man-made cellulosic fibre use in home furnishings.
Kelly McCloskey, Tree Frog News Editor
WASHINGTON — The NAFTA Secretariat has published formal notice of an October 5, 2026, binational panel decision concerning countervailing duties on Canadian softwood lumber products. The panel affirmed the US Department of Commerce’s Second Redetermination on Remand in the matter of Certain Softwood Lumber Products from Canada: Final Affirmative Countervailing Duty Determination. The decision relates to a challenge filed under NAFTA’s Article 1904 dispute settlement mechanism, which provides for binational panel review of trade remedy determinations.
David Eby initially framed this election as being about who’s the best choice to fight the threat posed by Donald Trump. …Pshaw, Eby’s critics say. …Whether Eby is using Trump as a strawman, and whether the New Democrats are the ones to counter the president and his tariffs, is up for debate. What’s not in dispute, though, is those tariffs hit the forest sector hard. In the outer reaches of ridings like North Island and Mid Island-Pacific Rim — places more wild and rugged than tamed, uncalloused Victoria — they’ll tell you the tariffs are just one more challenge to an already struggling industry. People in forestry also fret about access to fibre, the depletion of valuable Douglas fir, wildfires, regulatory burden, transportation costs and, yes, cross-border wrangling. …Eby said B.C. would fight tariffs by adding $90 million to existing government programs to attract investment and jobs to rural areas.
A new manufacturing operation coming to Chemainus is expected to create 30 jobs by early 2027, with plans to grow to 70 positions over the next three years. Japan-based Shinohara Nexus Group will open a production facility on a portion of the Chemainus sawmill site, leased from Western Forest Products. North Cowichan Mayor Rob Douglas said he met with Shinohara Group’s senior management team, including the company’s president and CEO, to discuss the project. The investment was also discussed with North Cowichan council members by B.C. Forests Minister Ravi Parmar during the Union of BC Municipalities convention. According to Douglas, the operation will be housed in two existing storage buildings at the site. Western Forest Products has told the United Steelworkers the new operation will not impact the Chemainus sawmill’s ability to restart. Shinohara has operated manufacturing facilities producing pre-cut lumber for approximately 4,000 residential, commercial and institutional buildings each year.
ROSENTHAL, Germany —During the restart process following a four-week maintenance shutdown, the plant received a report on October 1, 2026, regarding discoloration in the vicinity of the wastewater discharge point. As a precautionary measure to rule out any adverse effects on the environment and water bodies, the company immediately halted the restart process and the wastewater discharge, retaining the wastewater in the plant’s own buffer basins. The Saale-Orla District Office subsequently issued a temporary swimming ban for the southern section of the Bleiloch Reservoir as a precaution. Since the wastewater discharge was suspended on Thursday, the company has been in constant direct communication with the relevant authorities. On this basis, discharge from the plant’s own wastewater treatment facility into the Saale River was gradually resumed on October 3 in close coordination with the relevant environmental authorities. At the same time, preparations are underway to resume pulp production. [END]
Lumber futures rose to $540 per thousand board feet, their highest level in nearly a month, as Hurricane Isaias threatened supplies across key producing regions. The storm swept through the US Gulf Coast, causing major power outages in Alabama and Mississippi, both significant lumber-producing states, raising concerns over supply disruptions and pressuring prices. Lumber supplies were already constrained by escalating trade tensions between the US and Canada. …However, gains remain tempered by weakness in the US housing market. Mortgage rates have climbed to 7.4%, their highest in nearly three years, raising borrowing costs for homebuyers and weighing on housing demand.
When the US Forest Service opened 947 acres of western Colorado to commercial logging in July, officials expected at least a few companies to jump at the opportunity. Not one did. None had bid a year earlier, either. Surging fuel costs and plummeting prices for Ponderosa pine made it impossible for them to turn a profit, so they all skipped it. That isn’t just a problem for the loggers. Timber sales are an important tool for preventing catastrophic wildfires, helping to thin dense underbrush and other vegetation that builds up over decades. …Yet loggers are passing up on timber sales across federal lands because of an accelerating downturn in the industry. Demand has been cratering for some wood products, especially pulpwood used to make paper. “If we don’t have a viable economic market,” said Scott Dane of the American Loggers Council. “Without markets, there is no forest management.” [to access the full story a NY Times subscription is required]
