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US Representatives Glenn “GT” Thompson and Andrea Salinas introduced the Mass Timber Federal Buildings Act. This bipartisan legislation provides incentives for the use of mass timber building materials in federal contracting, giving timber and other forest products companies the ability to compete for construction, renovation, or acquisition of public buildings, and for military construction. Source: Timberbiz The bill creates a two-tier contracting preference for mass timber and other innovative wood projects. The first-tier preference applies to mass timber that is made within the US and responsibly sourced from state, federal, private, and Tribal forestlands. The optional second tier applies to mass timber products that are sourced from restoration practices, fire mitigation projects, and forest owners. Additionally, this bill contains a reporting requirement for a whole building lifecycle assessment. The results of this assessment will help provide additional evidence of the environmental benefits of the use of timber and forest products in buildings. “Timber and forest products have long been an important economic engine for the hardworking families and rural communities of Pennsylvania,” Mr Thompson said. “American forests, such as the Allegheny National Forest in Pennsylvania, are tremendous natural resources, and when managed responsibly, they serve as a long-term source of high-quality timber. We aim to expand markets for timber and innovative wood products that Pennsylvania’s foresters and mills are ready to support.” Ms Salinas said that Oregon has always been a leader in the US mass timber industry, which has supported economic growth across the Pacific Northwest. “Our wood products are sustainable and cost-effective building materials,” she said. “Incentivizing the use of mass timber in federal buildings will expand our state’s industry, support good jobs, and drive down the cost of construction, which will help address the housing crisis. By supporting Oregon timber, we reduce wildfire risk, increase forest resiliency, and shrink the carbon footprint of federal buildings.” Amy Shields, Executive Director of the Allegheny Hardwood Utilization Group (AHUG) applauded Congressman Thompson for introducing the Mass Timber Federal Buildings Act of 2026. “Federal leadership in mass timber construction sends exactly the right signal to spur the research, innovation, and private sector investment needed to grow this market,” said Ms Shields. “The legislation strengthens forest health, expands opportunities for Pennsylvania’s emerging hardwood CLT and mass timber sector, and delivers meaningful economic and workforce benefits for the forest reliant communities of the Allegheny region and across the Commonwealth. We’re grateful for Congressman Thompson’s steadfast support of America’s forest products industry, both softwood and hardwood, as we work together to build a stronger, more sustainable future.”

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PEFC has launched its new Project Sourcing standard, a major step forward in helping the built environment sector demonstrate responsible sourcing and traceability, while increasing demand for certified wood across the construction sector globally. Source: Timberbiz The new standard provides an independent, third-party system that enables organisations to demonstrate that the forest and tree-based materials used within a project are responsibly sourced, traceable, and supported by evidence. As demand grows for timber and forest and tree-based materials, including mass engineered timber elements such as cross laminated timber (CLT), laminated veneer lumber (LVL), and glulam, the need for credible and verifiable sourcing claims has never been greater. The standard provides a practical system for developers, architects, contractors, designers, and specifiers to demonstrate their commitment to responsible sourcing and strengthen the link between sustainable forest management and the construction sector. Downland the Project Sourcing standard here.

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A tree, thought to be up to 1,200 years old, at the heart of Sherwood Forest and linked to the legend of Robin Hood is believed by experts to have died. Source: Timberbiz The gigantic Oak tree, known as the Major Oak, has been in visible decline for several years, despite tireless efforts to improve its health and prolong its life. This spring, the Major Oak failed to come into leaf and is now believed to have died. Although this marks the end of the Major Oak as a living tree, it does not mark the end of its story. The iconic oak tree remains a powerful presence in the landscape and an enduring part of our cultural heritage. The tree and soil beneath it will continue to be a vital refuge for wildlife and the knowledge we have gained by looking after the Major Oak will help preserve other ancient oaks across the country. Its legacy will live on through its saplings and the legends associated with it, with plans being drawn up with our partners, and the tree will continue to be a vital refuge for wildlife. For centuries, the Major Oak has been woven into the story of Sherwood Forest and the legend of Robin Hood. With a trunk circumference of around 11 metres and a crown of 28 metres, it captivated imaginations and sparked an affection that saw it win the Woodland Trust’s Tree of the Year title in 2014. The Major Oak was also the very first tree recorded on the Woodland Trust’s Ancient Tree Inventory. Ancient oaks, the name given to oaks when they reach 400 years old, are biodiversity powerhouses, providing food and shelter for hundreds of species of insects, fungi, birds and mammals. Sherwood Forest holds one of the largest concentrations of ancient and veteran oaks in Western Europe. Protecting the remaining trees and nurturing the next generation of ancient and veteran trees is essential for the future health of the forest and the survival of many rare and threatened species. It is impossible to determine one exact cause of the oak’s demise, as it is the result of a complex combination of issues. For more than a century, well intentioned efforts to preserve the tree’s impressive shape – including metal bracing, props, concrete and coverings – prevented it from ageing naturally and in fact created added challenges to its survival. Millions of visitors also compacted the sandy soil around its roots, making it difficult for water, nutrients and oxygen to reach the tree. Recent investigations carried out by the site team with the UK’s leading soil scientists and arboricultural experts, revealed that the soil was extremely hard and lacking in life, and the root system was far smaller and weaker than earlier scans suggested. This combination of poor soil, human interventions and a weakened root system has been a major factor in the decline of the Major Oak. Additionally, climate change and the associated recent heat waves and droughts have compounded the challenges faced by the tree. Read the entire story at https://www.rspb.org.uk/whats-happening/news/the-major-oak  

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Australia’s annualised softwood log exports peaked year-ended September 2017 at 4.071 million m3, only ever breaching the 4.0 million m3 mark that month and the following month. By contrast to the current export volumes, 2017 seems a long distant memory. Source: Industry Edge As the chart below shows, annualised export volumes may have slipped away since then, but annual weighted average export prices peaked roughly one year ago, in April 2025, reaching AUDFob180.92/m3. Most recently, annualised export volumes have been stable, but export prices have been crumbling away rapidly but remain well above historic average prices.   Annual exports of softwood logs boost to 1.391million m3 Exports of softwood logs over the year-ended February 2026 totalled 1.391 million m3. In February, exports totalled 116,320 m3, at a weighted average price of AUDFob129.09/m3. Formal reporting shows India received 76% of the total, while shipments to China accounted for 21%. Tiny volumes continue to make their way to Vietnam and South Korea. Softwood Log Exports Over the year-ended February 2026, Australia’s total exports of softwood logs were 14.6% higher than the prior year, totaling 1.450 million m3. Reported monthly exports totaled 175,332 m3 in February 2026. For exports, softwood logs are differentiated as smaller or larger than 15 cm diameter. The distinction between log sizes was previously more noteworthy, but analysis becomes challenging as monthly export volumes are increasingly erratic, as seen in the chart. If the chart retains validity in current markets, it is in part to show the contrast over time. Larger logs (diameter >15cm) are dominating Australia’s exports. As the chart shows, trom 2021, the trend shifted away from favouring exports of the smaller diameter (<15 cm) logs. That appears to have changed again in recent years, with larger dimension logs again dominating export data reports and growing strongly from some regions of Australia. Although these logs are >15cm diameter at the small-end, industry reports demonstrate they are rarely sawlogs, with most <22cm SED. Over the year ending February 2026, exports of the smaller logs totalled 0.183 million m3 or 13.2% of the total, while shipments of larger logs totalled 1.207 million m3 (86.8%). Differentiation of exports based on diameter also allows for some price analysis. Export prices for the smaller logs have remained relatively stable in recent months, moving through a narrow range, while the average price of the larger diameter logs has fluctuated moderately more. Both are however trending down. In February, exports of the smaller logs tallied an average AUDFob131.81/m3 while the larger diameter logs saw prices at AUDFob128.21/m3. Originally published in Wood Market Edge online

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Australia needed to build more than 250,000 homes last year just to keep pace with demand growth and begin reducing the housing shortage but commenced less than 200,000 homes, according to the HIA. Source: Timberbiz “This is why home prices and rents are rising,” Tim Reardon, HIA’s Chief Economist, said. The ABS yesterday released its national, state and territory population data for the 2025 calendar year, covering births, deaths and migration. This shows that population grew by 412,500 and Net Overseas Migration (NOM) by 301,000 in the calendar year. “Australia’s housing shortage should be viewed as trying to squeeze 11 million households into 10 million homes,” Mr Reardon said. “Rising home prices, rising rents, elevated investor activity and a shortage of rental accommodation are all symptoms of a shortage of housing stock, not the cause of the shortage. “On top of that existing shortage, additional demand for homes continues to exceed.” Mr Reardon said that the National Housing Supply and Affordability Council (NHSFC) had forecast that Australia would continue to under-supply housing each year through to at least 2030. He said HIA’s modelling indicated that Australia’s housing shortage was likely to worsen more rapidly than NHSAC forecasts as population growth was likely to remain elevated, occupancy rates were likely to continue declining over time and unemployment is expected to remain low. “For those attempting to forecast housing demand based on the population growth in 2025, a common mistake that is made is as simple as dividing the population growth by 2.5 to calculate the demand for housing. This is wrong and dangerous and is part of the reason states and local councils have undersupplied housing for decades,”  Mr Reardon said. This week HIA released Beyond Population ÷ 2.5: Understanding Housing Demand in Australia which claimed that there weren’t one million vacant homes in Australia and why housing demand wasn’t just derived from migration. “With unemployment around 4.5 per cent last year, Australia would need to build more than 100,000 homes per year, even without population growth,” Mr Reardon said. “Demand for housing rises when the economy is strong. Households seek more housing space, occupancy rates decline, household formation increases and demand for second homes rises. It shouldn’t be the role of housing policy to deny households the ability to go on holidays. “Migration contributes to housing demand directly through population growth and indirectly through stronger economic growth. This means the relationship between migration and housing demand is not linear. A growing economy generates additional housing demand from the existing population,” he said. “The industry has always sought stable and reliable migration and has observed the opposite for the past six years. “The solution is not to deny that migration creates demand for housing. The solution, consistent with the findings of the Parkinson Review, is to ensure housing supply can respond to that demand.” Mr Reardon said the Australian government was responsible for setting the rate of migration, the States were responsible for building infrastructure and local councils were responsible for building homes. The Parkinson Review had highlighted the need for these three tiers of government to coordinate their priorities to address the shortage of dwelling stock. “The consequence of failure is predictable: rents rise, prices rise and affordability deteriorates,” he said. “The $2 billion in investment in housing infrastructure, announced in the Budget is a significant step in the right direction to lowering the cost of new housing supply. To make homes more affordable, governments need to lower the cost of delivering new homes to market. “Australia did not build enough homes to meet last year’s demand growth, let alone reduce the housing shortage that already exists. “Achieving the Housing Accord target of 1.2 million homes is therefore not optional. It is essential if Australia is to restore affordability and give more Australians access to secure housing. “If we want investors to leave the housing market, the solution is to increase the supply of homes, relative to demand growth, and ensure prices stop rising, rents remain stable and to allow renters to regain some market power over landlords,” Mr Reardon said. “Then, with time, investors will leave the housing market for other industry sectors that provide better returns. Attempts to regulate or tax investors out of the housing market have failed in the past and lead to higher home price growth, as demonstrated in this year’s Budget papers.” Several states and territories are now above their pre-pandemic decade population trajectories, led by Western Australia (+166,000) and Queensland (+143,200), particularly impressive for Western Australia with just over half the total population of Queensland. This is followed by South Australia (+45,100), Tasmania (+11,500), the Northern Territory (+6,400) and the Australian Capital Territory (+800). New South Wales (-86,700) and Victoria (-228,900) are still below their pre-pandemic decade population trajectories.

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