European Forestry Pulse #130 🌲

Hello,

Two forest money stories landed in one week. One owner refinanced with €200 million. One fund sold 2,600 hectares. Different moves. Both point the same way.

Here's what's moving European forestry this week:

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On 8 October, Tornator said it signed a new bank loan of €200 million. The source is its own stock exchange release. Tornator owns forests in Finland, Estonia and Romania. The loan is green and secured. "Secured" is a lending term. In plain words, assets back the loan. It runs for three years. Danske Bank, OP Corporate Bank and SEB arranged it.

The loan completes an autumn refinancing. In September, Tornator issued a new €300 million secured green bond. Moody's rates its secured debt Baa3, with a stable outlook.

On 7 October, INVL announced a forest sale in Latvia. One of its funds sold more than 2,600 hectares. Most of it lies in Vidzeme and Latgale. The fund held it through two Latvian companies, Zemvalde Forest and Zemvalde Agro.

The buyer is a Latvian-registered company owned by Danish investors. The price was not disclosed. Karl Danielsson Farm & Forest ran the sale.

The fund, INVL Sustainable Timberland and Farmland Fund II, raised €98 million from investors. It manages about 21,000 hectares of forest and farmland in the Baltics and Romania.

INVL said it has concluded this investment cycle. It plans to reinvest the proceeds in other forest and farmland. No price or reinvestment timetable was given. Partner Martynas Samulionis said: "This transaction is a further confirmation that sustainably managed forest creates real, market-recognised value."

A long-term owner refinances and keeps room to invest. A fund at the end of a cycle sells, and plans to buy again. The buyer is owned by investors too.

My read, and it is a read rather than a finding: Both point to more forest investment ahead. Part of the loan is refinancing. INVL's reinvestment is a plan. Neither shows where every euro will land.

In #118, Tornator reported buying more than 12,000 hectares in Finland in the first half. Total investments were nearly €60 million.

Now note what is missing. INVL gave no price. So this sale tells you buyers exist. It does not tell you what a hectare is worth.

If you own forest in Finland, Estonia, Romania or the Baltics: Both say they plan to keep investing. Tornator owns forest in the first three. The INVL fund invests in the Baltics and Romania. Know your forest's value before someone asks.

If you might sell: INVL used a specialist to run the sale. A prepared file and a run process bring buyers to the table. See One Thing to Try, below.

If you invest: Treat a deal without a price as a volume signal, not a valuation benchmark. Ask for priced comparable sales first (I can help you with that, see below).

If you speak for forestry: "Investors are selling forest" will be someone's headline. The fuller answer is one line. The seller plans to reinvest, and the buyer is investor-owned too. Sources: Tornator — Tornator signs EUR 200 million bank loan arrangement to secure investment capacity (8 Oct 2026) | INVL — INVL fund sold 2,600 hectares of forests in Latvia (7 Oct 2026) | prior ForestryBrief coverage: EFP #118

On 6 October, top agrar reported the third-quarter wood chip price in Germany. The German Pellet Institute (DEPI) collects it every quarter.

A1 chips averaged €38.90 per loose cubic metre, net. That is about 13% more than in the second quarter. It is a survey average for 80 loose cubic metres delivered within 50 km. It is not a spot price.

DEPI points mainly to sawmill residues. Managing director Martin Bentele put it simply (translated from German). "If sawing stops, our raw material is missing too." Weak building keeps sawmill output low, top agrar reports. Less sawing means fewer residues.

Austria shows weak sawn-wood trade too. It is a related signal, not the cause of the German price. Softwood lumber exports fell 7% in January to July, Timber-Online reports. Exports to the EU fell 3%. Glulam and CLT exports reached 1.12 million m³, down 2.1%.

Why it matters: Residues are every sawmill's second product. When saws slow, energy-wood buyers feel it next. Per top agrar, chips still cost about 68% less than heating oil.

The context: In #124, DEPI's September pellet price was €454.21 per tonne, up 6.2% in a month.

The takeaway: My advice: if you sell energy wood, check your next contract against the third-quarter price. Source: top agrar — Hackschnitzelpreise im 3. Quartal deutlich gestiegen (6 Oct 2026, German) | Timber-Online — Decreasing softwood lumber exports (9 Oct 2026) | Timber-Online — Laminated timber exports down by 2% (8 Oct 2026)

On 8 October, Forest News from the Finnish Forest Association looked at remedial fertilisation. That is fertilising to fix growth problems caused by a missing nutrient.

Boron covered more than 80% of the area in this year's support applications for it. The data are Finnish Forest Centre applications from 1 January to 31 August.

The article says drones now do a large share of boron work in private forests. It gives no percentage. Helicopters and ground spreading did it before. Granular boron is rising. Liquid boron fell to 5%, from 21% a year ago. The average site is still about 1.5 hectares.

Pine is rising fast. The share of pine stands getting boron more than doubled in two years.

Markku Remes of the Finnish Forest Centre lists the gains. He says drones need less fertiliser per area, carry larger loads and spread faster. He says the work now costs less. The article gives no cost figures.

Why it matters: Small sites become worth treating. Lower costs and higher support have raised interest, Remes says.

The takeaway: Walk a young pine or spruce stand. The article lists possible signs of boron shortage. Look for abnormal or dying top buds, branching, several leaders and bushy growth. Signs are a reason to ask, not a diagnosis. Source: Forest News — Drones are changing forest fertilisation (8 Oct 2026)

On 12 October, the Bavarian State Forests (BaySF) published results for their 2026 business year. It ran from 1 July 2025 to 30 June 2026.

Sales reached €536 million. Net profit was €71.7 million. BaySF calls it one of the best results in its history. In the previous business year, sales were €501.8 million. Profit was €43.7 million, epd reported then.

Damaged wood fell to about 0.63 million m³. That is more than half below the year before. Bark beetle wood was about 0.35 million m³.

BaySF paid €50 million into its climate forest fund. The fund now holds €200 million. The long-term goal is €300 million. About 7,500 hectares became climate-adapted mixed forest. About 5.8 million young trees were planted.

Why it matters: Finance board member Manfred Kröninger said it plainly (translated from German). "We must use good years to provide for difficult years."

The context: In #128, Czech state forests earned 23% more pre-tax profit on 8% less wood.

The takeaway: My advice: after a good wood year, set part of it aside. Damage years come back. Source: BaySF — Bayerische Staatsforsten ziehen Bilanz (12 Oct 2026, German) | Holz-Zentralblatt — Ergebnis gesteigert, Schadholz halbiert (13 Oct 2026, German) | epd via Sonntagsblatt — previous business year (13 Oct 2025, German)

Build the file a buyer will ask for. Even if you never sell.

INVL's sale ran through a specialist. Serious buyers ask for paperwork first. A missing paper becomes a question, and questions become discounts.

The file helps you even if you keep the forest. Your heirs, your bank and your next buyer will all ask for it.

"So investors are dumping Baltic forest now?"

You may hear it after a headline like this week's. From a neighbour, a council member, or a reporter. The honest answer is short. One fund sold at the end of its cycle. It says it plans to buy again. The buyer is owned by investors too.

Saying that calmly, in one breath, takes practice.

Part 1 covers the questions that arrive without warning.

A sale without a price is a signal, not a benchmark.

2,600 hectares changed hands this week. Nobody outside the deal knows the price. Investors call the missing number a comparable. Foresters call it the neighbour's sale. Neither works without a price.

I wrote the Forest-Investment Dictionary with Danish forest economist Anders Tærø Nielsen. It has 151 pages, 11 chapters, 14 printable tools, and 3 calculators. Investors learn to read a forest. Foresters learn to read a term sheet.

When the market turns, the people who can read the numbers make the better calls. The price is €99. Get yours below.

A refinancing is news too. Someone has to explain it.

Finance news has many readers. Staff, owners, lenders and neighbours all read it differently. Part 3 is about who in your organisation speaks to each of them. And whether they have the time.

I wrote The Organization, Part 3 of the Playbook. It has 165 pages, 10 chapters, 10 printable tools, and a survey. It shows what it takes to be heard, and who does the work.

Almost nobody in European forestry publishes what communication costs. The survey inside starts the count. The price is €149. Get yours below.

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Until Tomorrow!

Wish you all the best: Peter

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