Thursday edition
November 5, 2026
CANADA — BRITISH COLUMBIA / NOVEMBER 3 CLOSING
Tla’amin Nation completes Stillwater forestry acquisition
Tla’amin Nation’s forestry partnership has completed its acquisition of Western Forest Products’ Stillwater Forest Operation near Powell River, British Columbia. The November 3 announcement confirms the closing of the previously announced transaction, transferring a 100% ownership interest in the operation’s assets to Qwoqwnes Forestry Holdings Limited Partnership.
The operation includes Tree Farm Licence 39, formerly Block 1, covering approximately 154,000 hectares, mostly within Tla’amin’s traditional territory. Qwoqwnes, through Thichum Forest Products, will manage an allowable annual cut of 469,200 cubic metres. That is an allowable-cut figure, rather than a report of timber actually harvested.
A long-term fibre-supply agreement accompanies the transfer: timber harvested from the licence will be sold to Western to support its coastal British Columbia manufacturing operations. Ownership and management change while that supply relationship continues.
Thichum says the acquisition supports stewardship reflecting Tla’amin values and local employment and business opportunities. Western says the supply arrangement supports its move toward higher-value manufacturing.
By the Numbers
Latest available observations as of 2026-11-05. Dates and comparison periods vary by series; monthly figures remain unchanged between releases.
| Indicator | Latest | Change |
|---|---|---|
| U.S. on-highway dieselEIA U.S. on-highway diesel; taxes included | US$6.29/galWeek of November 2, 2026; released November 3 | −US$0.06/gal −0.9%Versus October 26: US$6.35/gal |
| Lumber futuresNovember 2026 lumber futures; nearby delivery contract | US$522.00/MBFNovember 4, 2026 close | +US$6.50/MBF +1.3%Same November contract, October 28: US$515.50/MBF |
| Madison’s lumber indexMadison’s weekly lumber index | US$459.00/MBFWeek ending October 30, 2026 | −US$36.00/MBF −7.3% (calculated)Versus week ending October 23: US$495.00/MBF |
| Hardwood lumber PPIBLS WPU0812; 1982=100; not seasonally adjusted | 285.1 index pointsSeptember 2026; released October 15 | −1.3 points −0.5%Versus August 2026: 286.4 |
| U.S. single-family housing startsCensus U.S. single-family starts; annualized estimate | 859,000 units (SAAR)September 2026; released October 20 | −41,000 units (SAAR) −4.6%Versus revised August 2026: 900,000 |
| Canadian dollarBank of Canada; Canadian dollars per U.S. dollar | C$1.40 per US$1.00Daily average, November 4, 2026 | −C$0.00 per US$1.00 −0.2%Versus November 3: C$1.40 per US$1.00 |
About these numbers
Housing starts are annualized estimates, not actual monthly units, and are subject to revision. The hardwood PPI is an index, not a dollar price. Exchange rates are daily averages. MBF means thousand board feet. The September single-family starts monthly change has a published ±10.0-percentage-point 90.0% confidence interval and is not statistically significant. The named November 2026 lumber contract settled at US$522.00 on November 4. Its comparison is the same contract’s October 28 close. January 2027 is a separate contract. Display rounding follows the approved format. Changes are calculated from unrounded observations, so rounded currency levels may look unchanged even when a small movement occurred.
Sources:
EIA U.S. on-highway diesel; taxes included
November contract historical closes
Named November contract and settlement date
Madison’s dated weekly index
BLS WPU0812; 1982=100; not seasonally adjusted
Census U.S. single-family starts; annualized estimate
Bank of Canada; Canadian dollars per U.S. dollar
Mill Operations
Montana’s Marks Lumber plans to stop sawing November 6
Marks Lumber in Clancy, Montana, plans to end sawing operations on November 6 as the family business winds down toward a 2027 closure. Its October 5 announcement attributes the decision to retirement and sets out a phased shutdown, with the final closing date dependent on remaining inventory.
The mill stopped accepting special-cut orders on October 20. Customers can continue buying existing inventory through the rest of 2026 and into 2027, the company says. The November 6 production cutoff is the next step in that timetable, rather than the end of all sales.
U.S. / CANADA / GERMANY — NOVEMBER 2 AGREEMENT
Mercer reaches recapitalization agreement; mills continue operating
Mercer International has reached restructuring support agreements with holders of more than 87% of its senior notes and a majority of its common shares. Its November 2 announcement sets out a proposed recapitalization addressing US$1.275 billion in senior notes and providing US$400 million in new cash through a fully backstopped rights offering.
The company expects to exchange approximately US$1.1 billion of senior notes for equity. Implementation is planned through prepackaged Chapter 11 cases for Mercer and one non-operating U.S. subsidiary; its operating subsidiaries are outside those planned cases.
Mercer says its mills in Germany, Canada and the United States are operating as usual, with customers, vendors and employees served and paid in the ordinary course. These are the company’s stated operating commitments, alongside a proposed financial restructuring that still requires court approval and other conditions. Mercer targets completion by year-end; the agreement is not an announcement of mill closures.
Company announcement filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission →
Under the Radar
FOREST RESEARCH — NOVEMBER 2 PAPER / NOVEMBER 3 UNIVERSITY REPORT
New plantations show sharply different fire outcomes across landscapes
A new study of 67,248 areas converted from nonforest land into planted forests finds that fire outcomes vary substantially by ecological setting. Researchers used satellite records from 2001–2023 and accounted for climate, accessibility and patch size.
Across temperate regions, afforestation was associated with 26% higher fire occurrence per hectare per year and 23% greater expected burned area when fires occurred. In temperate conifer regions, fire occurrence increased about 2.7-fold and expected burned area roughly doubled.
The pattern was different in temperate broadleaf and mixed-forest regions: fires became less frequent but larger. Temperate grasslands, savannas and shrublands showed lower fire occurrence without a significant increase in burned area.
The November 2 Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences paper concerns conversion of nonforest land to plantations, not every form of reforestation or every planted stand. The authors identify regional fire exposure as a factor in evaluating long-term carbon storage and wood supply.
Original research, methods and regional results → · University of Eastern Finland’s November 3 explanation →
Action Detector
U.S. — OREGON / OPEN COMMENT PERIOD
Elliott forest operations plan comments remain open through November 30
Oregon is seeking comments on the Elliott State Research Forest’s draft 2027–2029 Biennial Operations Plan. Written submissions are due November 30 at 5 p.m. Pacific; a further virtual information and listening session is scheduled for November 19, 1–2:30 p.m. Pacific, without advance registration.
The October 12 draft estimates 31 million board feet from planned operations across the biennium, with most of the planned acreage in commercial thinning and partial harvests. These are proposed operations, not timber sales currently open for bidding.
The plan implements the existing Forest Management Plan and Habitat Conservation Plan. The research forest board is expected to consider whether to recommend adoption in May 2027. The department says written comments should identify inconsistencies, corrections, new information or ways to improve operations; spoken feedback must also be submitted in writing to receive a written response.
Official deadline, submission instructions and November 19 session → · Full draft operations plan and project maps →
Today's Featured Resource
14-day VT Forestry Climate Adaptation Challenge
This free 14-day email course delivers daily units with podcast links about Vermont forestry climate adaptation. The sequence offers a structured way to work through the subject over two weeks.
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