15 percent of the logs harvested from forests in Finland have been diverted to areas other than the sawmill or plywood industry, writes Matti Kyl\u00e4vainio, Chairman of the Board of the Finnish Sawmill Industry Association.<\/p>\n
According to official harvesting statistics, the minimum amount of logs harvested in Finland in the 2020s was 25 million cubic meters, and the maximum was 29.3 million cubic meters.<\/p>\n
Matti Kyl\u00e4vainio says Finnish forestry has historically been based on producing sturdy sawn timber. The principle of growing logs gained renewed momentum after the wars, particularly with the Forest March organized in 1950, which aimed to increase wood production in private forests and encourage broader participation in forestry work.<\/p>\n
He notes that forest management practices such as regeneration, sapling care and timely thinning were once widely emphasized, but their consistent application appears less evident today across Finland.<\/p>\n
At the same time, forest growth in Finland has increased significantly, he says. Over the past 70 years, total forest volume has risen to more than 2.5 billion cubic meters. Annual growth exceeds logging and natural losses. However, forests are aging and growth rates are gradually declining, even as overall forest strength improves.<\/p>\n
According to official data cited by him, log harvesting in Finland in the 2020s has ranged between 25 million and 29.3 million cubic meters.<\/p>\n
Logs in Finland are primarily harvested for the sawmill and plywood industries, he says, noting that the mechanical wood industry depends heavily on both availability and price, as raw material accounts for around 70 percent of sawmill costs.<\/p>\n
In his view, historically low pulpwood prices in Finland and a wide price gap compared with logs may have encouraged sawmills to process smaller-diameter wood. Statistics indicate that between 2.5 million and 3.1 million cubic meters of such wood have been used annually for sawing. Overall, the sawmill industry\u2019s raw material consumption in Finland in the 2020s has ranged from 23 million to 26.5 million cubic meters.<\/p>\n
The plywood industry in Finland uses both softwood logs and birch logs, he adds. Softwood plywood production has declined in line with a weaker international construction cycle, reducing demand. The amount of softwood raw material used by the plywood industry has ranged between 1.4 million and 1.8 million cubic meters. In addition, small volumes of logs have been exported or used for other purposes.<\/p>\n
From a broader perspective, he questions whether the role of non-sawmill uses in Finland is as minor as often assumed.<\/p>\n
He explains that when total log production from fellings and small-diameter sawn wood are combined, and the volumes used by sawmills and the plywood industry, as well as exports and other uses, are subtracted, the remainder represents a log surplus. This surplus has fluctuated between 2.4 million and 5.8 million cubic meters in Finland in the 2020s. Around 15 percent of harvested logs have been directed to uses outside the sawmill and plywood industries.<\/p>\n
He adds that despite frequent claims about log shortages or strong demand pushing up prices in Finland, the figures suggest that raw material supply remains sufficient, provided logs harvested in forests are directed toward mechanical wood processing.<\/p>\n
Based on log reception measurements, only a small share of sorted logs\u2014around a few percent\u2014are redirected from sawmills to pulp mills, which does not explain the larger discrepancy in log flows, he says.<\/p>\n
Timber trade practices in Finland also influence log availability. In stumpage transactions, the buyer determines cutting based on industrial needs, and part of the log potential may remain unutilized, although this is not reflected in official statistics.<\/p>\n
He also points out that the calculated log surplus reached its lowest level in 2025, a year marked by weak demand and profitability issues in the pulp industry, which led to shutdowns of large integrated mills.<\/p>\n
Directing logs toward mechanical processing can also benefit the pulp sector, as nearly one-third of logs return to it in the form of sawdust, he notes.<\/p>\n
Over the past decade, more than \u20ac2 billion has been invested in Finland\u2019s sawmill industry, which remains capital intensive. Higher capacity utilization would reduce depreciation costs and strengthen international competitiveness, he concludes.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":98371,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"Default","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[5204],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-98370","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-daily-news"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n