New Biomass Crop Assistance Program (BCAP) "draft" rules announced by the Farm Services Agency come closer to assuring that wood for higher-value products will not be diverted for use as biomass, the Wood Biomass Market Report (WBMR) noted this week. The RISI, Boston, Mass., USA, report also stated that payments made through the BCAP program are just now flowing to the market in earnest from a $517 million allocation that is good through March 31, adding that these payments do not appear to have had adverse effects to date on pulp and panel producers. The report, however, adds that this is "due almost solely to market conditions and should not be a signal as to the true effect the BCAP program could have if new rules are not enacted." WBMR has reported since the program's inception last year on the concern among traditional forest products players that BCAP would drive up prices for composite panel furnish, OSB raw material, pulpwood, and even some low-grade sawlogs.

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