Forest Products Industry

Celebrating their 50th anniversary in 2025, McDowell Lumber Company is a family-owned hardwood sawmill processing primarily red oak, white oak, and poplar. In order to keep up with demand, the mill needed to retire its previous 15-year-old scrag mill and find not just a replacement, but an improvement.

That’s what led them to purchase and install a new USNR end dogging carriage with optimization, promising more efficiency and superior technology.    

To read previous USNR related posts click here

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Sumitomo Forestry has unveiled the latest exhibition renderings of the Sumitomo Forestry Village Exhibition, 100 Forests, in conjunction with the six-month countdown to the International Horticultural Expo 2027 (GREENxEXPO 2027), scheduled to run from 19 March to 26 September 2027 in Yokohama, Japan. Source: Timberbiz Based on the company’s business activities centered on forests and trees for over 330 years since its founding, the Sumitomo Forestry Village Exhibition, 100 Forests, seeks to provide visitors an opportunity to understand the diverse ways forests, trees and humans are interconnected. Under the concept, “100 EYES, 100 FORESTS” (embodying the idea that a forest changes depending on the viewer, offering countless possibilities), the Sumitomo Forestry Village Exhibition, 100 Forests, provides an immersive experience exploring forests and trees from multiple perspectives. The Sumitomo Forestry Village Exhibition, 100 Forests, guides visitors through an exhibition space that includes a tunnel, theatre, museum and second-floor deck to experience the diverse values and possibilities of forests and trees. Visitors to the exhibition will first enter a tunnel that leads to a forest. The journey begins with a seemingly contradictory question: How can we protect forests while growing and logging trees? In the theatre and the museum, visitors will discover how forests are a treasure trove of life for a diverse range of living creatures. They will then learn how trees are planted, cultivated, and take the form of wood that supports everyday life. Beyond that are examples of the possibilities wood holds in the future in such areas as energy and biotechnology. At the end of the tour on the second-floor deck, instead of looking up at trees, visitors will get a bird’s eye view for an entirely different perspective of forests and trees that may bring new discoveries. GREENxEXPO 2027 will be the first international exposition that Sumitomo is participating in independently and it will showcase its initiatives and future challenges centred on the Wood Cycle. At the same time, it will provide a diverse range of perspectives on forests in the hopes that visitors will encounter the countless possibilities that forests and trees have to offer and discover a forest of their own.

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UK timber and panel product imports remained below last year’s levels during the first half of 2026, with weaker softwood and plywood volumes weighing on the market, according to the latest statistics from Timber Development UK (TDUK). Source: Timberbiz The combined volume of the UK’s main timber and panel product imports was 3.9% lower in H1 2026 than during the same period in 2025. Solid wood imports fell by 4.7%, while panel product imports were 2.5% lower. After a poor start to the year, import volumes improved during March and April, with April volumes sitting 4% higher than a year earlier. This improvement was short-lived, however, with volumes falling 8% year-on-year in May and 3% in June. Softwood, which accounts for more than 60% of all timber and panel imports, was a major contributor to the overall decline. Import volumes fell 4.9% to 2.898 million m³ during the first six months of the year. The latest TDUK statistics note this weaker performance of softwood imports amid the backdrop of falling UK housing starts. Following historically low levels in 2024 and 2025, the Construction Products Association is forecasting a further 9% reduction in housing starts during 2026. Meanwhile, hardwood imports were 1.5% lower than H1 2025, reflecting weaker volumes of temperate and mixed hardwoods. Tropical hardwood moved in the opposite direction, increasing by 3.5%. The largest falls were seen in plywood. Total plywood import volumes were 13.6% lower, with hardwood plywood down 7.4% and softwood plywood falling 28.8%. Lower hardwood plywood volumes were mainly due to reduced supply from China, while the fall in softwood plywood was driven largely by Brazil. Brazilian volumes fell by around 60,000m³, or 39%, during H1 2026. The picture across other panel product imports was more positive. Particleboard imports increased by 4.6%, with growth from Germany and Belgium and a strong increase in volumes from Luxembourg. Imports from China also increased during the period. OSB imports rose by 2.3%, while MDF recorded the largest percentage increase among the main timber and panel product categories, with volumes up 13.1%. Chinese MDF volumes doubled compared with H1 2025. Engineered wood product imports were 13% lower overall. CLT imports fell 60.7% and glulam volumes were down 17%, while LVL imports increased by 8.5%. I-beam imports remained virtually unchanged from the same period last year. Prices also changed during H1. While softwood prices increased overall following rises during Q1, they fell back during Q2 while still remaining above year-earlier levels. Plywood prices generally fell, including an 8% reduction in the average price of hardwood plywood from China and an annual average reduction of around 12% for softwood plywood from Brazil. The downward movement in hardwood plywood prices stopped abruptly in May and June, when average prices moved higher as substantially lower volumes of cheaper Chinese material were imported. Nick Boulton, Head of Technical and Trade Policy at Timber Development UK, said: “The first half of 2026 presents a mixed picture for UK timber imports, but the headline position is that overall volumes remain weak and below the levels seen in previous years. “Softwood imports were down by almost 5%, while plywood volumes fell more sharply, particularly softwood plywood. At the same time there were areas of growth, with higher volumes of particleboard, OSB and MDF, and LVL imports also moving ahead of last year. “We have also seen some changes in pricing during the first half of the year. Softwood prices fell back during Q2 following increases earlier in the year, while the reduction in lower-priced Chinese hardwood plywood imports in May and June resulted in average prices moving higher.” One brighter spot in TDUK’s latest figures is the performance of UK timber and panel exports. Although export volumes remain small compared with imports, they have been on a growth path over recent years. Softwood exports increased by 24% in the six months to June compared with H1 2025, continuing the growth seen over the past few years. Ireland remains by far the largest destination for UK-produced softwood, accounting for around 93% of exports. MDF exports increased by 46% compared with H1 2025, reversing the downward trend recorded over the previous four years. Particleboard exports were 1.4% higher. OSB exports were slightly below H1 2025 overall following a poor first quarter, but Q2 volumes were 21% higher than during the same quarter last year. Boulton added: “Exports remain tiny in comparison with the volumes of timber and panels imported into the UK, but they are a valuable proportion of the output from UK-based producers and have shown good volume growth over recent years. The 24% increase in softwood exports during the first half of 2026 continues that growth path, while the 46% rise in MDF exports is another positive feature within the latest figures.” TDUK members can sign in and read the full report on the TDUK website. Timber Development UK is the largest, most comprehensive timber supply chain body in the UK, and remains the single source for knowledge on all things timber, from sawmill to specifier and everything in between.

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As Canada’s Prime Minister Mark Carney prepares to address the European Parliament and advance a strengthened Canada–European Union security and trade partnership, Forest Products Association of Canada is urging Canada and the EU to use this moment to address existing trade barriers, including the European Deforestation-free Product Regulation scheduled to take effect later this year. Source: Timberbiz The association says that no one disputes the intent of EUDR, and Canada and the EU share a commitment to sustainable trade, climate action, and responsible natural resource development. But it believes the current EUDR approach fails to recognize the robust frameworks governing forestry in Canada, including third-party forest certification, Indigenous leadership in Canadian forestry, and the importance of active forest management to address catastrophic wildfire risks. The association says that in its current form, the regulation risks imposing tens of millions of dollars of unnecessary costs on Canadian producers, small woodlot owners, and integrated forest product supply chains without delivering any real benefit. It says requirements related to plot-level traceability, large data uploads, and treatment of forest residuals are creating practical challenges for low-risk exporters like Canada, Australia, and New Zealand, and creates more operational uncertainty for forestry businesses, employees, and contractors. Similar concerns exist for Canada’s soy and cattle industries. “The Canada–EU relationship has long been built on trust, shared values, and a commitment to rules-based trade, and we have an opportunity before us to make this connection even stronger,” said Derek Nighbor, President and CEO of FPAC. “As Canada and Europe deepen cooperation on trade, security, energy, housing, and climate action, it is essential that the EUDR be implemented in a way that recognizes Canada’s long-standing commitment to sustainable forest management, its world-leading position in third-party forest certification, and our growing wildfire risks,” he said. “Canada’s forest sector supports the EU’s commitment to combatting global deforestation and sustainability and is seeking an evidence-based approach to achieve this goal.” FPAC wants EU decision-makers to adopt targeted simplification measures for low-risk trading partners, including recognition of negligible-risk countries, streamlined geolocation and traceability requirements, and practical treatment of forest residuals and by-products that are already part of circular, sustainable forest product value chains. “Getting this right, matters,” Mr Nighbor said. “A workable EUDR can promote sustainable forest management, enable reliable trade, support climate action, and accelerate the affordable housing agenda. “And it can be effective in addressing global deforestation. We look forward to seeing a more durable path forward for Canadian exporters, European customers, and the thousands of families connected to Canadian forestry,” he said.

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New Forests founder Dr David Brand will headline an investor symposium hosted by The Precinct in Melbourne in October as investors explore an initial $200 million-plus opportunity to establish large-scale engineered wood product manufacturing in Victoria’s Green Triangle. Source: Timberbiz Dr Brand will deliver a keynote address on 14 October 2026, drawing on more than four decades of experience across forestry investment, forest management and natural capital. Russ Hughes, chair of The Precinct and former CEO of Australian Bluegum Plantations, will host the invite-only event as investors assess the commercial pathway, market opportunity and investment case for the world scale Precinct development, proposed for Portland in south-west Victoria. The proposed initial stage, earmarked close to port and transport infrastructure, represents more than $200 million in investment and would establish a large-scale Glue-Laminated Timber (GLT) manufacturing facility, supported by a state-of-the-art sawmill and major log merchandising facility. It will use locally grown plantation hardwood, creating an estimated 74 permanent jobs and anchoring future stages of engineered wood product manufacturing, including Laminated Veneer Lumber (LVL) and prefabricated building component manufacturing. The market opportunity is significant, with Australia importing close to $1 billion of engineered wood products and wood panels each year, including significant volumes of LVL, GLT and plywood used extensively in housing construction. The invite-only event marks a return to the investment origins of Dr Brand’s work in Australia. He founded New Forests in 2005 with a single forestry asset in the Green Triangle with the goal of bringing institutional capital into the plantation sector. The business has since grown into a global operation with $10.6 billion in assets under management with a portfolio covering plantations, timber processing, agriculture, conservation, carbon and natural capital. From the outset, Dr Brand recognised that the value of a forest extended well beyond the sale of wood fibre. His work helped advance a more sophisticated view of forestry as an asset class, capable of delivering additional value through carbon, biodiversity, conservation and broader landscape outcomes. Just as carbon created a new way to value plantations, Dr Brand will explore the next evolution of the sector, transforming established plantation resources, traditionally exported as raw fibre, to be the feedstock for higher-value, domestically produced engineered wood products and prefabricated construction systems – markets experiencing strong domestic demand and constrained supply. The symposium follows the completion of the Hardwood Timber Manufacturing Hub feasibility study, which confirmed the technical and commercial pathway for the initial stage of The Precinct development. The Precinct Chair Russ Hughes said the symposium came at pivotal moment for investors and the region’s forestry sector. “Victoria has an established plantation resource, but too much of its potential value leaves the region before it is converted into higher-value products,” Mr Hughes said. “The opportunity is to connect the resource we already grow with engineered wood manufacturing and prefabrication capability, so more of the economic value, skilled employment and industrial capability is retained in Australia, helping to meet our growing housing needs. “Dr Brand has been at the forefront of forestry investment for decades. His experience, including the early New Forests investment in the Green Triangle, gives him a particularly relevant perspective on the opportunity now emerging for this globally recognised region.” Under the theme “From Plantation to Product to Prefabrication”, the invitation-only symposium will bring together institutional investors, industry leaders, government representatives and project partners to consider the investment case, market opportunity and pathway to delivery. The Precinct is supported by major industry contributions and the Commonwealth Government’s Australian Forest and Wood Innovations (AFWI) and the Victorian State Government. The symposium will be held at the Sofitel on Collins Street from 10am to 3.30pm on Wednesday 14 October.  

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