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The Swedish sawmill industry is doing well in competition with, above all, continental Europe, which appears to have the greatest challenges in terms of access to sawn timber in the future.<\/span><\/p>\n But during the next six months, the Swedish Handelsbanken expects that there is limited scope for continued price increases, as a result of falling profitability in industry.<\/p>\n ''We expect corrections in the price level for timber in the southern part of the country, where the price premiums against the northern part are at the highest levels in 20 years,'' says Christian Kopfer, an expert at Handelsbanken.<\/p>\n Low demand for sawn timber<\/strong><\/p>\n After sharp price falls in 2022 as a result of reduced demand from households and professional builders linked to the energy crisis, rising inflation and higher interest rates, the export price for Swedish sawn timber products has increased slightly so far this year.<\/p>\n ''We expect continued weak demand and an adjustment of production levels both in Sweden and Europe,'' says Christian Kopfer.<\/p>\n In the longer term, the bank expects that price levels and profitability for Swedish sawmills over business cycles will be around 10 percent, which is to be compared with the average margin of 5 percent in the period 2016\u20132021.<\/p>\n The forest's raw material is sought after<\/strong><\/p>\n Several different factors continue to drive the demand for forests. Firstly, forest material will increasingly replace plastic, steel and concrete in the future. On the one hand, there is political interest in using the forest to an increased extent to sequester carbon dioxide and protect biological diversity.<\/p>\n ''We assess that the agreement on stricter rules within the EU for sequestering carbon dioxide may mean limited opportunities to meet the structurally increased demand for Swedish wood raw material. This suggests that forest land as an investment continues to be favorable over time,'' says Christian Kopfer.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The Swedish sawmill industry is doing well in competition with, above all, continental Europe, which appears to have the greatest challenges in terms of access to sawn timber in the future. But during the next six months, the Swedish Handelsbanken … Continue reading