Editor's note
Two suppliers moved closer to the decision. Valmet already builds the machines and automation in many pulp and paper mills. With Tieto's production software it also gets the system where the mill plans what to run, in which order, for which customer. Terra Labs already sells forest data to Södra and Mellanskog. Its new agent sits on top of that data and answers the question a timber buyer actually has: which stands to cut, and what they are worth.
That is vertical integration coming from two ends. Valmet starts with steel and control systems and moves up into planning. Terra Labs starts with data and moves toward the decision itself. Both are heading for the plan someone signs: the production schedule a mill manager approves, the list of stands a timber buyer takes to the owner.
Axel
Terra Labs puts an AI agent on its forest map
Last covered in #063, when its data began feeding Södra's member app, Terra Labs has added an AI agent to its Earth Intelligence platform. Users ask in plain language, say for spruce stands ready for final felling, and the agent pulls the company's satellite-derived forest data, runs the analysis on the map and returns a figure, map or recommendation. Terra Labs says customers already use it, giving timber buyers and planners stand-level answers without GIS skills.
Stihl lets fellers drive the wedge from 50 metres away
Stihl has introduced the FKA 160, a battery-powered felling wedge the operator controls by remote from up to 50 m. Set in the back cut, it lifts the tree over the hinge in the final stage of felling, the moment a feller with a manual wedge has to stand at the stump. With the remote, the feller can be well clear when the tree starts to go. It is rated for trees up to 50 cm in diameter and reaches the market in February 2027.
Valmet buys Tieto's pulp and paper mill software
Valmet is buying Tieto's pulp, paper and fibre software business for EUR 30M. The unit sells a manufacturing execution system, the software that plans and tracks production inside the mill, and an order-to-cash system from customer order to invoice. Valmet already supplies machines and automation to many of these mills and says the software moves it toward autonomous mill operation. Closing is due in Q2 2027.
Stora Enso takes its lignin battery carbon to a Chinese anode maker
Stora Enso and Shanshan Technology will build a demonstration line in Ningbo, China, for Lignode, a hard carbon for sodium-ion battery anodes made from lignin, the substance that binds wood fibres together and a by-product of pulping. Running it at an established anode maker tests the material on a battery supplier's own equipment, which a pulp mill cannot do alone. Stora Enso still aims for large-scale production in Europe but gave no capacity, investment or timeline.
Simulated forest robots fail on positioning, not steering
Researchers at the Federal University of Viçosa sent a simulated ground robot on 1,440 missions between the rows of Brazilian eucalyptus plantations. Every stem contact traced back to patchy satellite positioning under the canopy, while retuning the steering controller barely changed how close it passed. For teams building autonomous forest machines, that puts the effort into knowing where the machine is. The model is not yet checked against a real robot or stand.
From the Forestry Tech Landscape
The Forestry Tech Landscape maps 100+ companies and startups building technology for forests. Three to know this week:
Terra Labs (Inventory & mapping). AI platform that inventories forests from satellite data and produces fully digital forest management plans.
Space4Good (Satellite & remote sensing). Dutch earth observation company whose FORESTER platform gives forest managers and conservation groups deforestation alerts, forecasts and reports.
OTMETKA (Timber logistics & traceability). Stamps encrypted codes on logs at felling, giving each log a traceable identity from forest to sawmill.