Sweden

May 15, 2023

Sweden: Sawlog prices rise in Q1/2023

During the first quarter of 2023, delivery timber prices for both sawlogs and pulpwood in Sweden increased in comparison with the fourth quarter of 2022.... Continue reading →

September 14, 2022

Sweden: Vida Group says electricity price will affect its production over time

For Sweden's largest sawmill group, Vida, a price increase of SEK 1/kWh on the electricity price means around SEK 170 million (EUR 16 million) on an annual basis. This corresponds to a cost increase of 10 percent. In the short term, price hedging and production cuts mitigate the cost shock. As previously announced, during the autumn, Vida will reduce production by 15 percent. The Canadian forestry giant Canfor owns 70% of Vida Group. ''The reduction is driven more by a declining market than by high electricity prices. We planned for reduced production even before electricity prices really skyrocketed. But it is clear that the electricity price will affect our production over time. We have one half of our operations in electricity area SE3 and the other in SE4. There, it looks as if electricity prices will be high for a long time,'' says Jonas Axelsson, technical director... Continue reading →

October 2, 2020

Lumber companies in the US reached record profits

Record high lumber prices in the US, stable income for residual chips, and slightly lower costs for sawlogs moved 2Q/20 gross margins for US sawmills to some of the highest levels seen since 2005. Lumber companies in the US Northwest have seen a dramatic shift in their financial health from late 2018 when most sawmills in the region ran at below cash-costs, to the 2Q/20 when gross margins were at their highest levels in at least 15 years. Over in Europe, Swedish lumber companies saw slight improvements in profitability in the 2Q/20 because of increased prices for both domestic and exported lumber and slightly lower sawlog costs. In neighboring Finland, both lumber prices and net wood costs (sawlog costs minus residual income), saw minimal changes in the 2Q/20, thereby maintaining the current and historically low levels of gross margins. Sawlog prices in both countries have trended... Continue reading →

January 29, 2023

IKEA replaced Russian wood with more supplies from the Baltics and Sweden

IKEA is using more wood from Sweden and the Baltics to make up for not sourcing it from Russia and Belarus which the company has shunned due to Moscow’s war in Ukraine, its wood supply boss said in an interview. The world’s biggest furniture brand – one of the world’s top wood users – used 20 million cubic metres of wood in its products, packaging and communication material in the 12 months through August 2022. “We have managed to replace those (Russia and Belarus) volumes in other countries on a very hot wood market,” Ulf Johansson, Global Wood Supply and Forestry Manager at brand owner Inter IKEA, said. Sweden, the Baltics, Poland and Germany are among countries where IKEA‘s wood sourcing has increased as a result of the war in Ukraine, he said, adding that some of the solutions might be long-term and others short-term. Russia and Belarus were IKEA‘s... Continue reading →

April 20, 2022

Swedish wood industry expects large rise in exports to China and the USA in the next 3 years

When the Swedish wood industry looks to the next three years, a large increase in exports is forecast. China and the United States are leading the way, but sales to Europe are also expected to increase. The climate issue is taking up more and more space and where a challenge is about finding the right material for the right opportunity. The Swedish wood industry also requires changes in regulations to be able to secure access to wood in the future. These are some of the results in a survey from Tyréns, a Swedish consultancy group focusing on urban development and infrastructure, which has questioned the major Swedish players in the wood products industry. ''Increasing Swedish exports of wood products are expected in 2022 and it is the economic powers China and the USA that are leading the development. 50 percent of the companies in our survey state that their sales to China will... Continue reading →

November 5, 2019

Swedish sawmills export less to Europe; more to Africa, China and US

Swedish sawmills delivered less softwood lumber to European destinations in the first eight months of 2019 (-7%). By contrast, deliveries to Africa (+ 12%, ~ 1.5 million m3) and N. America (+ 29%, ~ 300,000 m3) increased significantly.  In August alone, Swedish softwood lumber exports showed a slight decline. From January to August, a total of 8.3 million cubic meters were exported, 1% less than in the same period of... Continue reading →

October 2, 2020

Lumber companies in the US reached record profits

Record high lumber prices in the US, stable income for residual chips, and slightly lower costs for sawlogs moved 2Q/20 gross margins for US sawmills to some of the highest levels seen since 2005. Lumber companies in the US Northwest have seen a dramatic shift in their financial health from late 2018 when most sawmills in the region ran at below cash-costs, to the 2Q/20 when gross margins were at their highest levels in at least 15 years. Over in Europe, Swedish lumber companies saw slight improvements in profitability in the 2Q/20 because of increased prices for both domestic and exported lumber and slightly lower sawlog costs. In neighboring Finland, both lumber prices and net wood costs (sawlog costs minus residual income), saw minimal changes in the 2Q/20, thereby maintaining the current and historically low levels of gross margins. Sawlog prices in both countries have trended... Continue reading →

May 15, 2023

Sweden: Sawlog prices rise in Q1/2023

During the first quarter of 2023, delivery timber prices for both sawlogs and pulpwood in Sweden increased in comparison with the fourth quarter of 2022.... Continue reading →