Reuters reported that Suzano has expressed interest in acquiring International Paper—but IP and Suzano pour cold water on the report. In other company news: Teal-Jones has an interim deal to restart BC operations; Canfor reinforces ties with China; Weyerhaeuser partners with U of Arkansas; Pacific Woodtech is hiring; and Western Forest Products and Louisiana Pacific report their Q1, 2024 results. Elsewhere, more on NAFTA panel’s call to correct softwood lumber duty errors.
In Forestry/Climate news: Canada releases Indigenous-led climate change report; FPAC unveils National Innovation Awards; BC publishes interactive map of timber harvesting proposals; ENGOs say BC’s laws protect industry over people; and California group sues US Forest Service over wildfire protection.
Finally, the BC Interior Logging Association AGM kicks off Friday, and a Global Wood Summit update.
Kelly McCloskey, Tree Frog Editor
Preparations are well underway for the 
NEW YORK — Brazilian pulp and paper company Suzano has approached US-based International Paper (IP) to express interest in an all-cash acquisition that would be worth almost $15 billion. The approach comes less than a month after IP agreed to buy British packaging firm DS Smith for $7.2 billion, beating out a rival bid from London-listed Mondi. …Suzano has communicated its $42-per-share offer to IP’s board of directors verbally, and could submit a formal bid in the coming days. IP is poised to reject Suzano’s offer as inadequate. Suzano said that it has neither signed any agreement with IP for a potential business combination nor has any decision been made by the company’s management in respect to a potential deal. Suzano, the world’s largest pulp manufacturer has informed IP that the offer would be conditional on the latter abandoning its deal with DS Smith, the sources said.
VANCOUVER, BC– Western Forest Products reported a net loss of $8.0 million in the first quarter of 2024, as compared to a net loss of $17.7 million in the first quarter of 2023, and a net loss of $14.3 million in the fourth quarter of 2023. Adjusted EBITDA was negative $4.2 million in the first quarter of 2024, as compared to negative $5.0 million in the first quarter of 2023, and negative $1.2 million in the fourth quarter of 2023. Other highlights include: lumber shipments of 131 million board feet (versus 170 million board feet in Q1 2023); Japan lumber shipments of 29 million board feet (versus 15 million board feet in Q1 2023); and average lumber selling price of $1,351 per mfbm (versus $1,241 per mfbm in Q1 2023), benefiting from a stronger sales mix, but offset by lower lumber prices
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STOCKHOLM — Stockholm Exergi today announced that it has signed a contract with Microsoft covering 3.33 million tonnes of permanent carbon removals from bio-energy with carbon capture and storage (BECCS) at Värtan, Stockholm. The agreement represents the world’s largest permanent removals deal to date. The deliveries of the carbon removal certificates to Microsoft are planned to start in 2028 and continue for a period of ten years. “The agreement with Microsoft is a huge step forward for our BECCS project, Stockholm Exergi as a company and the climate. It is the strongest possible recognition of the significance, quality and sustainability of our project and takes us an important step closer to a final investment decision in Q4 2024. I believe the agreement will inspire corporations with ambitious climate objectives, and we target to announce more deals with other pioneering companies over the coming months,” says Anders Egelrud, CEO of Stockholm Exergi.
Increasingly, businesses are writing off their carbon emissions by funding the conservation of forests. A new report finds that while such schemes have made “limited” progress in curbing deforestation, they have largely failed to alleviate poverty in forest communities. “We are too late on in the game to use win-win narratives,” said Daniela Kleinschmit of Freiburg University, a lead author of the report. Published by the International Union of Forest Research Organizations and presented this week at a U.N. meeting on forest loss, the report looked at both carbon offset programs and programs that certify goods as not contributing to deforestation. It found that such schemes frequently operate at the expense of forest dwellers. Forest communities often see no income from offset schemes and are sometimes forcibly evicted from their lands in the name of protecting forests, the report said.
Growing alarm over climate change has pushed world leaders in recent years to see Earth’s forests as a critical resource in the fight against global warming. But the newfound attention might not always be a good thing. The focus on forests and their value as carbon sinks could be contributing to an increase in global inequalities and create too much reliance on market-based solutions, such as carbon offsets. The warning was included in a new report from the International Union of Forest Research Organizations, a nonprofit network of forest scientists. Published Monday, the report provides a scientific review of recent trends in global forest governance….But focusing entirely on their carbon value could risk neglecting the other benefits that forests provide, such as their cultural importance to Indigenous communities. …In addition, forest carbon markets can shut local communities out of forest management discussions in their home regions.