Hurricane Isaias damaged more than 2.5 million tons of timber valued at more than $33.5 million in southwest Alabama, according to a preliminary aerial assessment by the Alabama Forestry Commission (AFC).

The Category 2 storm made landfall near Destin, Fla. on October 9 with maximum sustained winds of 105 MPH.

AFC pilots surveyed the affected region on October 13 and mapped a path of approximately 36 miles long and up to seven miles wide. Within the 154,783-acre impacted area, roughly 105,000 acres were forested, including 64,795 acres of forestland and 40,805 acres of woody wetlands.

“While we are thankful the damage was not as extensive as it could have been, these losses are still devastating for Alabama landowners,” Alabama State Forester Rick Oates said in a press release. “Growing timber is a long-term investment, requiring decades of hard work, careful management and financial commitment.”

Dan Chappell, coordinator of the AFC’s Forest Inventory and Analysis (FIA) program, says the heaviest damage was concentrated in a narrow band through the heart of Escambia County, across Interstate 65 in Conecuh County and into parts of Monroe County. The AFC has not received reports of widespread forest damage in other counties.

The AFC used a new damage-rating system shared across the U.S. South and designed to analyze regional disasters consistently across state lines. Aerial spotters sorted damage into one of three categories: light (0–15%), moderate (16–50%) or severe (51–100%). The AFC then quantified timber damage by converting those ratings into tonnage and dollar estimates using FIA plot data. 

“It’s less precise but more accurate overall,” Chappell said. “Spotters work from about 2,000 feet of elevation at 130 miles per hour, and the broader categories keep them from having to pinpoint an exact percentage. Most of the damaged observation points fell within the moderate category, and a little over a quarter were rated severe. Overall, damage averaged near 40%.”

No federal disaster funding for timber losses has been announced to date, and the USDA Forest Service has not yet said whether it will activate a damage protocol. Chappell says the AFC can conduct a post-disaster FIA ground survey if requested by federal officials. 

“We all know the industry is not in a great time across its product classes,” Chappell said. “Demand for finished products is flat, so a surge of salvage wood is likely to drive stumpage values down. Salvage is tough.”

The AFC recommends that affected landowners consult a registered forester for an on-the-ground assessment before making salvage decisions. The commission’s website has tools for finding forestry professionals by service and county, and the AFC encourages landowners to utilize USDA Forest Service resources on storm recovery and timber casualty-loss tax tips.

BASF Corp. planned its new MDI plant inauguration celebration in Geismar, La. in November. Representing a nearly $1 billion investment, the event markes the completion of BASF’s multi-year MDI expansion project and reinforces the company’s long-term commitment to U.S. manufacturing, Louisiana manufacturing, and the North American polyurethanes market.

BASF broke ground on the third and final phase of the methylene diphenyl disocyanate (MDI) expansion project at its Verbund site in Geismar in early 2023. The company statedit will increase production capacity to approximately 600,000 metric tons per year by the middle of the decade to support the ongoing growth of its North American MDI customers.

The investment for the final expansion phase amounted to $780 million. Including the first and second phases, the investment volume totals around $1 billion, making the MDI expansion project BASF’s largest wholly owned investment in North America.

Kicked off in 2018, the expansion project followed a staggered approach. First, a new MDI synthesis unit was put in operation in October 2020. The second phase, which started operations in 2021, expanded several existing upstream units. The third and final phase added new upstream units and a splitter.  

The U.S. Forest Service and U.S. Endowment for Forestry and Communities have announced the Beta launch of the Forestry Analytics for Carbon Tracking (FACT) platform, a science-based platform that addresses the growing challenge and need for reliable forest sector carbon data at no cost to users.

Landowners and businesses face increasing pressure to report and communicate carbon information, but existing data can be fragmented, inconsistent, and costly to aggregate. FACT compiles previously siloed public and private data into one free, accessible, and transparent place, strengthening the competitiveness of U.S. forest products in domestic and global markets.

The FACT Beta launch serves as a working release and active improvement period during which the platform will continue to be optimized, functionality will evolve, and new information will be incorporated. Valuable input gathered during this stage will shape the platform ahead of its full Version 1 release, which is planned for summer 2027.

“Forest and harvested wood product carbon data has been scattered across public and private sources for years, making it challenging for landowners, manufacturers, and researchers to work from a consistent foundation of information,” says Pete Madden, President and CEO of the Endowment. “FACT will make standardized, transparent data easier to access and use, strengthening the competitiveness of American forest products while supporting U.S. jobs and rural economies.”

FACT will complement tools and datasets people already use across the forest products value chain rather than replacing them. 

The platform is being designed to:

• Provide forest land managers with a standardized method to convert their forest inventories to carbon stocks and create small area carbon estimations.  

• Give harvested wood product manufacturers the tools to determine and report the carbon impacts of their operations.

• Support the consideration of embodied and displaced carbon estimates in design and architectural applications.

• Advance research by identifying gaps in primary carbon data.

As forest carbon research advances and published life cycle assessments and environmental product declarations are updated, FACT will continue incorporating new information. This approach will allow the platform to evolve as science, data, and user needs change.

FACT is being developed through a public-private effort led by the Endowment, the Forest Service, and the forest sector, with input from scientists, engineers, and practitioners. The effort is supported through a collaborative agreement including the American Forest Foundation, American Wood Council, Composite Panel Assn., Decorative Hardwoods Association, Hardwood Federation, Hardwood Manufacturers Assn., National Alliance of Forest Owners, National Hardwood Lumber Assn., National Wood Flooring Assn., and Woodpack Global.

To explore the FACT Beta and test its tools, visit forestryanalytics.org.

Yes, you read that right: Cocaine plywood is a thing, along with lumber and timber, part of a growing trend of drug gangs to soak liquid cocaine into wood products, concealing the drug during shipment then reconstituting it at its destination. Irish customs officials, as part of an effort that included multiple countries and law enforcement groups, recently seized more than 150 pounds of the drug along with a mobile cocaine processing lab set up in a truck trailer and “infused” plywood panels ready for processing. After shipping the product, drug traffickers then grind it up and use chemicals and solvents to extract the cocaine back into powder form. Ireland is just the latest location for cocaine-infused forest product seizures. According to news reports, earlier this year Australian authorities seized six tons of timber planks they estimated contained 220 lbs. of cocaine soaked in. In August, Spanish authorities announced they had dismantled four cocaine processing labs used to extract cocaine from wood and other products. And in South America, Chilean and Bolivian officials are arguing about a shipment of hardwood that Chilean authorities say has cocaine in it but Bolivia says it’s a false positive.

The facility uses the latest generation DUOZINK 12 finger-jointing machine. The line is complemented by a newly developed block storage system with fully automatic destacking. A hydraulic TimberPress V 220 flex is used to manufacture straight GLT up to 60 ft. in length. The pressing force is applied from above, ensuring a uniform, high-quality bond. A downstream finishing planer then performs the necessary planing for standard beams and block-glued beams.

One focus of the project is the production of curved structural beams. In collaboration with Arbonis, Minda developed the new TimberPress C 500 flex. This machine enables the cost-effective production of curved glulam beams up to 147 ft. in length.

The pressing concept differs significantly from conventional methods: The packages to be pressed—consisting of up to two beams—are loaded into the press bed by crane. The press automatically shapes the press package before the tie rods are tightened. Afterward, the shaped press package is placed next to the press, where it can cure, creating a continuous and flexible production flow throughout the shift.

The entire manufacturing process is controlled by Minda’s intuitive FlowMate user interface which supports employees through every step of the process and provides a transparent overview of the entire production process. 

Installation at Arbonis is currently ongoing. Production is scheduled to begin in early 2027. This project will not only create new production capacity for the French market but also deliver innovative solutions to drive the sustainable advancement of glued laminated timber manufacturing.

Minda and one of France’s leading timber construction companies are currently carrying out an extraordinary project: For Arbonis, a VINCI Group company, a fully automated production line is being built in Chemillé-en-Anjou to manufacture straight glued laminated timber and large-format curved beams.

For more than 40 years, Arbonis has been a recognized market leader in timber construction, supporting construction projects from planning to completion. With its own planning and engineering offices and three production sites, the company develops sophisticated timber construction solutions for a wide variety of applications.

The first contact between Arbonis and Minda took place in 2024. The goal was to find a partner to build a fully automated production line capable of economically producing both straight GLT and curved architectural beams. The aim was to create a future-proof solution with minimal operational effort.

Working closely with Arbonis, Minda developed a plant layout for integrated production. From the feeding of the boards to the finished beams, the entire material flow is fully automated. The operator is primarily responsible for monitoring tasks, while all production steps are linked together.

The facility uses the latest generation DUOZINK 12 finger-jointing machine. The line is complemented by a newly developed block storage system with fully automatic destacking. A hydraulic TimberPress V 220 flex is used to manufacture straight GLT up to 60 ft. in length. The pressing force is applied from above, ensuring a uniform, high-quality bond. A downstream finishing planer then performs the necessary planing for standard beams and block-glued beams.

One focus of the project is the production of curved structural beams. In collaboration with Arbonis, Minda developed the new TimberPress C 500 flex. This machine enables the cost-effective production of curved glulam beams up to 147 ft. in length.

The pressing concept differs significantly from conventional methods: The packages to be pressed—consisting of up to two beams—are loaded into the press bed by crane. The press automatically shapes the press package before the tie rods are tightened. Afterward, the shaped press package is placed next to the press, where it can cure, creating a continuous and flexible production flow throughout the shift.

The entire manufacturing process is controlled by Minda’s intuitive FlowMate user interface which supports employees through every step of the process and provides a transparent overview of the entire production process. 

Installation at Arbonis is currently ongoing. Production is scheduled to begin in early 2027. This project will not only create new production capacity for the French market but also deliver innovative solutions to drive the sustainable advancement of glued laminated timber manufacturing.