Finland’s roundwood sales stagnated in 2015, according to new statistics. The effects of the newly announced investments in the Finnish forest industry will impact the timber market only starting 2016, says the Finnish Forest Industry Federation (FFIF). The most important step to take in 2016 is to counterbalance the growth in demand with wood supply structures. All Finnish forest owners must seek opportunities to grow in the bio-economy sector, says FFIF
The Finnish timber trade started slow at the beginning of 2015. Still, the trade recovered slightly by the end of the year.
The FFIF member companies bought 30.1 million cubic meters of roundwood from Finnish private forest owners, 3% lower than the previous year. Sawlog purchases reached a total of 12.8 million cubic meters, 7% less than 2014. Only pulpwood sales stayed the same as in 2014, with 16.3 million cubic meters sale.
Finnish roundwood prices fell slightly
Pine logs and spruce sawlogs stumpage prices declined 2% in 2015, the birch logs' price remained the same. Moreover, pine pulpwood prices fell by 1% and spruce and birch pulpwood by 2%.
Pine sawlogs reached an average price of 54 euros per cubic meter, ranging between 43 and 57, depending on region. Spruce logs average price was € 54 per cubic meter, ranging between 42 and 56 euro, while the price for birch logs was 42 euros per cubic meter, varying from 34 to 45 euros. Pine and birch pulpwood average stumpage price was 15 euros and spruce pulpwood 17 euros per cubic meter. Pulpwood prices ranged between 10 and 19 euros, depending on region.
New investments will transform the Finnish forest industry
New investments in the Finnish forest industry will impact the Finnish forest industry in an unprecedented way. Growth in wood demand will come up this year, so Finnish forest industry members should not wait. Industrial activity and investment conditions need to be improved, especially domestic wood supply should be strengthened, says FFIF.
Tomi Salo, director of the Finnish Forest Industry Federation, says that “substantial investments in the forest industry will increase the need for timber up to 10 million cubic meters a year. This will require an increase in logging of more than a fifth, even though we are already close in harvesting records.”
[gravityform id="1" title="false" description="true"]
