Tetra Pak divests its Russian packaging business, while the war continues to cause trade turbulence in wood pellets. In other Business news: Enviva eyes expansion in North Carolina; Drax reports positive first half of 2022; an India plastics ban helps the paper industry; and an Italian tissue-paper manufacturer is expanding in Europe. On the US market front: new home sales plunge, consumer confidence falls; a housing recession is coming; and fibre prices soar in the Pacific Northwest.
In other news: Michigan is all-in on mass timber; a path forward for Nova Scotia’s forests; BC invests in First Nations’ chip business; and crews make progress in Yosemite; while new outbreaks hit Okanagan Falls, BC; Newfoundland; and Germany/Czechia.
Finally, Bob Vila’s innovative materials list includes mass timber and newspaper wood.
Kelly McCloskey, Tree Frog Editor
Montreal-based Resolute, which traces its origins back to the 1820 founding of William Price Co. in Quebec, is set to begin yet another chapter in its long and storied history after Paper Excellence announced it would acquire the company in a US$2.7-billion deal. …Resolute’s purchase by Paper Excellence, through its wholly-owned Domtar unit (another North American forest products giant with deep Quebec roots that it bought last year), is a testimony to the solid performance of Resolute’s management team. The new owner says it intends to keep the team in place once the deal closes in early 2023. …News of the sale has raised hopes that Paper Excellence will invest hundreds of millions of dollars to convert Resolute’s Gatineau newsprint mill to make containerboard. …The Resolute deal is a reminder that, despite a rocky couple of decades, the Canadian forest products industry remains a major one capable of attracting international investors. [to access the full story a Globe & Mail subscription is required]
High supply chain and energy costs, lingering pandemic effects and Russia’s attack on the Ukraine continues to have profound impacts across the globe. In the context of the wood pellet industry, it has led to a projected shortfall of pellet fuel in the United Kingdom and other European countries. While stakeholders there look elsewhere to secure additional supply, it may have some U.S. producers investigating the potential option of sending product overseas. …Todd Bush, CM Biomass, says “for producers in the U.S. and Canada, where many have not traditionally accessed the European market, it really comes down to the price of pellets. It has increased in Europe dramatically. For U.S. producers selling into the domestic market, right now, [in Europe] the range of prices are where they usually are at the height of the season in a normal year. So, it does open up opportunities.” 
Historically speaking, the Federal Reserve’s inflation fighting playbook always starts with housing. …The central bank begins by applying upward pressure on mortgage rates… home sales sink and existing home inventory spikes. Then homebuilders begin to cut back. That causes demand for both commodities (like lumber and steel) to fall. Those economic contractions then quickly spread throughout the rest of the economy. …While a housing recession is good news for the inflation fight, it also means a National Bureau of Economic Research declared recession could be drawing closer. …One thing stands in the way: Homebuilding. On a year-over-year basis sales of new single-family homes is down 17.4%. That said, homebuilders remain busy. …In fact, there’s currently a record number of U.S. homes under construction. As long as builders and contractors remain busy, McBride says that’ll prevent the spike in construction job cuts that normally come before a Fed-induced recession.
Michigan Tech and Michigan State universities are both working on developing solutions for using mass timber throughout Michigan. Michigan Tech has taken on the role of research and development for cross laminated timber. …Michigan State University has taken the lead in understanding what criteria must be met for mass timber to be used in the construction of buildings, homes and offices. The use of mass timber in buildings provides another key benefit, outside of the efficiency and cost factors, compared to traditional materials like steel. …Representatives in mass timber research and policy from both Michigan tech and Michigan state presented to an economic round table… organized by Senator Ed McBroom. He was joined by Sen. Ken Horn of Frankenmuth, Sen. Wayne Schmidt of Traverse City, Rep. Sara Cambensy of Marquette, and Rep. Greg Markkanen of Hancock.
It’s been 20 days since the last significant rainfall in the capital region and the millions of trees around our homes, streets and parks are starting to feel some of the stresses of drought. “Trees like a cycle of moisture and dryness,” said aborist Dan Sharp of Davey Tree Experts — typically, they regulate the uptake of water and nutrients to ensure their own health. But during extended dry periods, the movement of nutrients can slow and even stop. The tree can suffer and temperatures in its canopy can rise… Sharp recommends a good soaking for larger trees about every 10 days to two weeks …The Western red cedar — B.C.’s provincial tree — struggles in dry conditions, showing signs of “flagging,” or browning of its foliage. Over the years, large stands have died off on the east coast of the Island, although it does much better on the Island’s west coast.
The Province of BC provided $149,500 over the past three years to Atli Resources Limited Partnership, which is the forestry arm of the ‘Na̱mg̱is First Nation, to support the acquisition of a northern Vancouver Island chipping facility: Atli Chip, located in Beaver Cove on the territory of the ‘Na̱mg̱is First Nation. Funding was awarded through FP Innovations, a delivery agent for the Indigenous Forest Bioeconomy Program and the Indigenous Forestry Program. …The provincial funding was used to complete a business assessment and develop a plan to lay the foundation for the acquisition of Atli Chip Plant. The funding also supported a study on improving the use of lower-quality timber and an engineering project to design a commercial-scale facility for the extraction of tannins from waste hemlock fibre. Tannins are biochemicals used in leather tanning and other applications.
The modus operandi for the past decade of carbon removal has been a combination of large-scale monocultural tree planting and landowner payments to encourage them to withhold from destroying incumbent forests. Up until recently, there was little quarrel with this practice; however, things are changing quickly. To give some context about my background in this space: I’ve been operating in the carbon capture sector for the past few years and most recently cofounded Heimdal, which has since built the world’s first ocean-based direct air carbon capture plant in Hawaii. …The fact of the matter is that carbon credits vary in quality—and this difference in quality is vital to determine the impact that issued credits have on averting climate change. Monoculture forests are inexpensive to deploy compared to high-quality solutions such as land- or ocean-based CO2 mineralization; however, unless it is constantly attended to, the positive impact on climate change is minimal at best. 
JERSEYDALE, Calif. — Firefighters continue to make progress against a huge California forest fire that forced evacuations for thousands of people and destroyed 41 homes and other buildings near Yosemite National Park, officials said Tuesday. Crews battling the Oak Fire in Mariposa County got a break from increased humidity and lower temperatures as monsoonal moisture moved through the Sierra Nevada foothills, said a Tuesday night report by the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, or Cal Fire. After minimal growth Monday and overnight, the blaze had consumed nearly 29 square miles of forest land, with 26% containment on Tuesday, Cal Fire said. The cause was under investigation. “Although good progress continues on the fire, there is much work to be done,” Cal Fire said. …Heavy smoke from the fire drifted more than 200 miles (322 kilometers), reaching Lake Tahoe, parts of Nevada and the San Francisco Bay Area, officials said.
PRAGUE — Hundreds of firefighters were battling wildfires in eastern Germany and neighboring Czechia as tourist regions and residential areas were being evacuated. A large wildfire was spreading quickly in the eastern German state of Brandenburg in a region with lots of bone-dry pine forests where firefighters have to be especially careful because of old World War II ammunition that’s still buried there, German news agency dpa reported. The large fire in the Elbe-Elster district has already destroyed an area of about 850 hectares and continued to spread quickly because of gusty winds blowing from changing directions. Seven firefighters were injured, four of whom had to be treated in a hospital for smoke inhalation. …Poland and Slovakia said they were sending helicopters while Italy offered special Canadair planes designed for firefighting.