Reduced activities in the housing construction sector in China decreased importation of softwood logs and lumber in late 2011, reports the Wood Resource Quarterly. Despite the decline in the 4Q, total imports during 2011 reached a record high, making China the largest importer of logs and lumber in the world.
The Honourable Joe Oliver, Minister of Natural Resources, today addressed representatives of Canada’s forest industry at a luncheon speech at PaperWeek 2012 in Montreal.
The Minister highlighted the importance of partnerships, innovation and market expansion to the future of Canada’s forest industry in helping to sustain jobs in rural communities across the country.
UPM sells its packaging paper production to the Swedish packaging paper company Billerud. The transaction includes two packaging paper machines; one in Pietarsaari and one in Tervasaari, Finland. The enterprise value of the transaction is EUR 130 million. The transaction is subject to regulatory approval. The target is to close the transaction during the second quarter of 2012.
Over the 12 months of 2011, OJSC Ilim Group’s mills in Siberia (the Bratsk and Ust-Ilimsk mills) manufactured 1,490,000 tons of pulp and paper products. This is 1.5% above the 2010 performance.
This includes 1,258,000 tons of market pulp, with a 1% increase over the previous year.
Market containerboard output has increased by 3% compared to previous period to reach 231,000 tons.
Sabah Timber Industries Association (STIA) said the timber industry here is facing a shortage of raw material due to over logging in the past and lack of sustainable forest management program.
In a statement yesterday in conjunction with this year’s Chinese New Year celebration, STIA president Datuk James Hwong said the critical situation has forced STIA members to depend on other means to sustain the industry.
Maine Governor Paul LePage signed an executive order directing that “any new or expanded state buildings shall incorporate green building standards that give certification credits equally to forest products grown, manufactured and certified under the Sustainable Forestry Initiative Standard, Forest Stewardship Council, American Tree Farm System and Programme for the Endorsement of Forest Certification systems.”
ICTORIA - The B.C. government says lumber exports to China have gone through the roof.
It says in the first 11 months of last year, the province had shipped 4.2 billion board feet of lumber to China, exceeding a goal of four billion set four years ago.
Exports are up 200 per cent from 2009, and their value has hit more than one billion dollars.
Jobs Minister Pat Bell calls the numbers astounding, saying about two dozen sawmills across B.C. have re-opened or added shifts partly because of the boost in exports to China.
Södra reduced the price of its softwood pulp timber by SEK 25 per m3sub. This price reduction is also applicable to the pulp timber element of its storm range. The price of all hardwood pulp timber ranges will remain unchanged for the time being, however.
"This price reduction is a reaction to the prevailing demand, and there is plenty of raw material available at all Södra pulp mills," said Håkan Svensson, Director of Forestry at Södra.
New regulations banning sale of illegal timber in consumer countries will force companies to move away from business-as-usual practices, part of a two-pronged approach to ensure the sustainability of supply for wood products.
VTT Technical Research Centre and Aalto University have developed a method which for the first time enables manufacturing of a wood-based and plastic-like material in large scale. The method enables industrial scale roll-to-roll production of nanofibrillated cellulose film, which is suitable for e.g. food packaging to protect products from spoilage.
