Sanctions against Russian exports will permanently alter the global trade of forest products. In related news: Russian pulp and paper company looks to China for growth; Stora Enso is divesting four paper sites; Verso deal with BillerudKorsnas is closing; and Canfor extends production curtailment at Taylor Pulp. On the market front: US consumer confidence rebounds; and construction job openings remain strong.
In Forestry/Climate news: Canada invests in biomass from forest residues; FPAC sees opportunity in fed’s emission plan; Ontario launches biomass action plan; New Brunswick Av Group secures FSC certification; BC accused of allowing logging in caribou habitat; New Hampshire takes on the southern pine beetle; and NRCan researchers track forest carbon with LiDAR.
Finally, as the pandemic eases, the battle for your toilet paper is on!
Kelly McCloskey, Editor
Through carbon capture and sequestration, Canada’s forests play a critical role in the fight against climate change. Carbon gains have been realized through world-class sustainable forest management while at the same time, insects, wildfire, and other natural disturbance impacts work to release carbon back into the atmosphere. To monitor and help manage forest carbon stocks, the Government of Canada has developed a sophisticated approach to carbon accounting and reporting. A highly specialized team of research scientists, programmers, analysts, and remote sensing specialists make up the Carbon Accounting Team in the Canadian Forest Service.
Canfor Pulp Products Inc. is announcing a minimum six-week extension of the curtailment of BCTMP production at Taylor Pulp due to the ongoing transportation shortages that have resulted in continued high finished product inventories at the pulp mill. “Unfortunately, the ongoing rail transportation situation has not improved, and we have no choice but to extend the current production curtailment,” said Kevin Anderson, VP Operations, Canfor Pulp. “We are very disappointed in the ongoing impact this is having on our employees, their families and the community.”
New U.S. duties on Chinese wood moldings and millwork products will remain in place after a federal trade court sustained the U.S. International Trade Commission’s conclusion that these imports are materially injuring domestic industry. The U.S. in 2021 imposed antidumping and countervailing duties on some of those Chinese products, which are known as WMMP and are used for functional and decorative applications in construction. The duties followed the Commerce Department’s determination they were being unfairly traded and subsidized and the ITC determining they were hurting U.S. industry. In making injury determinations the ITC compares subject imports to domestically manufactured “like products”. [to access the full story a Bloomberg Law subscription is required].
Lumber trade flows changed almost instantly when Russia invaded Ukraine in late February. …The total lumber exports from the three countries in the war zone were 34 million m3 in 2021. Over 25% of that volume was exported to countries with current sanctions against Russia and Belarus. …The total volume of softwood lumber that is now unlikely to reach the market in Europe and Asia (outside China) because of sanctions is an estimated 10 million m3, or just over 30% of the total export volume shipped from Belarus, Russia, and Ukraine in 2021. …Europe, which imported 8.5 million m3 of softwood lumber from the three countries in 2021, will be the hardest hit. …Some of the factors that may reduce trade even with countries that have no sanctions with Russia and Belarus include… foreign investors in the Russian forest industry may withdraw their presence and financial funding, making it more challenging to produce and export to any market. A weak Russian Rouble will make importing equipment and spare parts for logging companies and forest product manufacturers very costly. [and] The removal of Russian banks from the international payment transaction system SWIFT will complicate payments.
Early in the pandemic, toilet paper shortages pushed weary Americans to the fringes. Out of necessity, millions tried rolls made from recycled paper or bamboo. And what they found surprised them. These alternatives were actually soft, far from the sandpaper-ish versions they grudgingly used at their office or in a public restroom. That revelation is shaking up what had been a stable — even boring — category that racked up about US$10 billion at U.S. retailers last year. Purchase patterns for toilet paper have historically been simple and lucrative: Shoppers found a brand, like Charmin, and bought it like clockwork every few weeks for years, even decades. But all those empty shelves … opened them up to emerging brands — some backed by venture capital — making claims about softness similar to those that had dominated the category for half a century, while adding a benefit for this era: saving the planet.
The amount of forested areas in Poland has been rising steadily over the past few decades. So why are forestry experts sounding the alarm? Nearly 30 per cent of Poland, around 9.1 million hectares, is now covered with forests, up from 21 per cent in 1945. The vast majority of that area is managed by State Forests, a governmental organisation which comes under regular fire from scientists and pro-nature activists. Critics accuse State Forests of ill-advised logging of old-growth forests, most recently in the Białowieża Forest on the border between Poland and Belarus. …When thousands of people from the Middle East and Africa tried to enter the European Union via Belarus last summer, the Polish authorities decided to stem the tide by building a 186 kilometre wall along the border. The 2.7 kilometre section which will cut through the strict reserve of the Białowieża Forest may not seem as much at first glance, but scientists say it will have a disastrous effect on local wildlife.
The Ontario government launched the province’s first-ever Forest Biomass Action Plan to drive economic growth and ensure the forestry sector remains strong for future generations. The plan promotes economic opportunities for using forest biomass, a low quality wood left over from forestry mills, in new diverse ways, including low-carbon consumer products and renewable energy. “Innovative uses of forest biomass will create new sources of renewable and environmentally friendly products and ways of doing business,” said Greg Rickford, Minister of Northern Development, Mines, Natural Resources and Forestry. “Our government’s 