Monday edition
November 9, 2026
U.S. — SOUTH AND NORTHWEST / NOVEMBER 4 RESULTS
Rayonier’s first full quarter after merger shows a bigger harvest
Rayonier reported its first full quarter with PotlatchDeltic’s operations on November 4. Its Southern harvest reached 3.02 million tons in the third quarter, up from 1.94 million a year earlier. Former PotlatchDeltic timberlands contributed about 1.4 million tons. Northwest harvest rose to 571,000 tons from 210,000, also chiefly because of the added acreage.
Average delivered pine pulpwood prices in Rayonier’s Southern segment fell to US$31.14 a ton from US$36.47 a year earlier. The company attributed that change to both weaker pulpwood markets and a different geographic mix. The year-earlier quarter covers Rayonier alone, so the volume gains measure a larger combined business.
Rayonier also closed two previously announced transactions with Resource Management Service: a US$145 million sale of about 36,000 acres in Washington and a US$146 million purchase of about 57,000 acres in Texas and Alabama.
By the Numbers
Latest available observations as of 2026-11-09. 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$504.00/MBFNovember 6, 2026 close | −US$17.50/MBF −3.4%Same November contract, October 30: US$521.50/MBF |
| Madison’s lumber indexMadison’s weekly lumber index | US$449.00/MBFWeek ending November 6, 2026 | −US$10.00/MBF −2.2% (calculated)Versus week ending October 30: US$459.00/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$1.41 per US$1.00Daily average, November 6, 2026 | +C$0.01 per US$1.00 +0.9%Versus November 5: 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$504.00 on November 6. The comparison is the same contract’s October 30 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 November 6 index and prior-week comparison
BLS WPU0812; 1982=100; not seasonally adjusted
Census U.S. single-family starts; annualized estimate
Bank of Canada; Canadian dollars per U.S. dollar
Curtailment Watch
- Mercer’s November 5 results disclosed that its Rosenthal softwood pulp mill in Germany restarted after 24 days of unplanned fourth-quarter downtime. Wastewater treatment issues interrupted its restart after planned maintenance. Separately, Mercer expects 18 days of planned fourth-quarter maintenance downtime at its Celgar pulp mill in Castlegar, British Columbia. It expects lower per-unit fiber costs at its Canadian pulp mills after renegotiating Celgar’s supply contracts and seeing improved supply. The release did not give exact Celgar outage dates or site-specific tonnage effects for either mill. Mercer’s November 5 results, maintenance and fiber disclosures
Under the Radar
Kansas field day links woodland care with small-scale milling
A November 2 KCLY report revisits the Kansas Forestry Association's October 22 field day at Woodland Ranch near Courtland. Landowners saw sawmill and post-peeler demonstrations alongside sessions on oak management, young tree plantations, wildlife habitat and streambank stabilization.
Kansas Forest Service district forester Thad Rhodes said management can improve established woodlands, wildlife habitat and water quality. He pointed to windbreaks and streamside buffers as ways to protect the land. The event paired those stewardship topics with practical wood utilization.
U.S. — WEST / NOVEMBER 6 RESEARCH SUMMARY
Low snow improved some logging access and cut it elsewhere
A Forest Service research summary published November 6 describes how the West’s 2026 snow drought changed field operations. Managers in a survey and focus groups generally reported easier access to project sites. In places where winter logging depends on frozen ground or sufficient snow cover, work was limited instead.
The same report describes difficulties with pile burning where snow usually helps contain fire. It records managers’ observations across the West; it does not estimate regional timber volume gained or lost.
Action Detector
Nebraska's Central Platte opens spring conservation-tree orders
Central Platte Natural Resources District is accepting conservation-tree and shrub orders for spring 2027. Seedlings cost US$31.25 per bundle of 25. Orders placed by December 31 receive a 10% discount on trees, weed barrier and planting services; the final ordering deadline is April 1, 2027.
Qualifying orders of at least 200 trees may receive cost-share assistance for trees and weed barrier. The district also offers planting services and smaller mixed-species packages. These are Central Platte's program terms; landowners elsewhere should check their own district's prices and eligibility.
Check Central Platte's species, ordering and cost-share details
Today's Featured Resource
SumBuck
SumBuck is a hardwood log-bucking and grading training app. Practice placing cuts on virtual stems, set market specifications and prices, and compare your pattern with the highest-value solution.
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