Global Wood Markets Info spoke with Tino Aalto, Managing Director of the Finnish Sawmills Association, the organisation representing Finland's sawmilling industry. Tino Aalto has led the association for the past four years after previously serving as a Special Adviser to several Finnish government ministers and holding senior public affairs and lobbying roles across different industrial sectors.

In this interview, he discusses the challenges facing Finnish sawmills as record-high log costs continue to outpace softwood lumber prices, shares his outlook for European construction demand and export markets, and explains why he believes EU climate and forestry policies are increasingly undermining the competitiveness of Europe's forest industry. He also outlines the policy changes he believes are needed to strengthen the sector and offers his expectations for the market heading into 2027.