Daily edition
October 1, 2026
Prepared from public sources. Links lead to original material.
By the numbers
U.S. on-highway diesel: $6.382/gal for September 28, down 14.7 cents from one week earlier. EIA
Lumber: $537.50/MBF at Tuesday's close, up 1.0% from Monday. Historical data
SOUTH — SOUTH CAROLINA / WOOD PRODUCTS
Adeptus plans $215.56 million South Carolina wood-products plant
Adeptus USA has selected Anderson County for its first South Carolina operation, a $215.56 million investment expected to create 217 jobs. The Honea Path facility will manufacture value-added and processed pine products for building-products and millwork markets.
The scale is notable for the regional wood economy: the project adds a large new pine-processing investment in a state where forestry is already a major part of the broader agribusiness sector.
SOUTH — ARKANSAS / LOGGING COSTS
Arkansas opens temporary dyed-diesel relief to qualifying forestry vehicles
Arkansas has temporarily suspended state penalties that normally prevent qualifying agricultural and forestry businesses from using dyed off-road diesel in highway vehicles. The relief runs through October 30 unless amended or extended.
For logging businesses, this is a direct operating-cost measure rather than a general fuel-price forecast. Eligibility is limited to qualifying vehicles and operators, so contractors should review the order before changing fuel practices.
WEST — MONTANA / CONTRACT OPPORTUNITY
Bozeman-area helicopter-yarding project holds site visit today
The Forest Service is gathering contractor capability information for the Leverich Helio Stewardship IRSC south of Bozeman. The anticipated work covers 151 acres and about 2,335 CCF of sawtimber, with whole-tree helicopter yarding, landing slash piling and 0.59 mile of temporary-road decommissioning.
A site visit is scheduled for 10:00 a.m. MDT today. Capability statements are due October 15. The project is expected to begin in late spring or early summer 2027 and may span two operating seasons.
WEST — CALIFORNIA / MASS TIMBER
Berkeley work pushes dowel-laminated timber toward commercial production
UC Berkeley's Wood Lab is highlighting mechanically laminated timber as a lower-cost mass-timber pathway that can use salvaged and small-diameter wood. A Humboldt County company, Mad River Mass Timber, is now positioned as the first U.S. commercial producer of dowel-laminated timber.
The manufacturing angle matters: dowel-laminated panels use wood dowels rather than adhesives, can be produced with comparatively modest equipment, and offer a potential outlet for material that can be difficult to move through conventional structural-product channels.
Under the Radar
EUROPE / MASS TIMBER MARKET
Stora Enso weighs closing Gruvön CLT production by year-end
Stora Enso has opened negotiations over a plan to discontinue cross-laminated timber production at its Gruvön sawmill in Sweden by the end of 2026. The company says slower-than-expected CLT market growth, rising wood costs and relatively high fixed production costs have pressured profitability.
The proposed change could affect as many as 80 positions. Gruvön would continue sawmilling, and Stora Enso says Nordic CLT customers would be supplied from its plants in the Czech Republic and Austria.
THURSDAY DEEP DIVE
Business and market responses to the loss of low-grade wood markets
When a major low-grade outlet disappears, the effect reaches well beyond stumpage prices. The practical response is usually a mix of product substitution, hauling-radius changes, inventory discipline, new customer development and operational changes that reduce exposure to any single market.
The Forest Business School's Thursday Deep Dive looks at how forest businesses can respond when pulpwood, biomass or other low-grade markets contract or vanish—and where new value can sometimes be created from a difficult market shift.
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