Finland's sawmill industry had a difficult start to the year. Production and exports fell sharply, and the market situation for pine lumber in particular is weak. The crisis in the Middle East, declining demand in Asia and rising logistics costs have hit the sawmill industry.<\/p>\n
The production of sawmill companies in January\u2013March was 2.9 million cubic meters of softwood lumber, which was 6% less than in the corresponding period of the previous year. The production volume of spruce lumber was 1.4 million cubic meters (-7%) and of pine lumber 1.4 million cubic meters (-6%).<\/p>\n
The sawmill industry's export volume in January\u2013February was 1.2 million cubic metres of lumber. The volume was 13% lower than the previous year (spruce -7%, pine -18%). Average prices increased by 3% compared to the previous year (pine +1%, spruce +4%). The value of exports decreased by 10% in total and totalled EUR 286 million in January\u2013February.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe demand and market situation for pine lumber has been difficult since late summer 2025. The situation is not good for spruce from a profitability perspective, even though demand is at a better level than for pine. It is currently difficult for the sawmill industry to operate a profitable business. The price level of wood is high and the export market is weak,\u201d commented Tino Aalto, CEO of the Finnish Sawmill Industry Association.<\/p>\n
Even before the start of the Middle East crisis, delivery volumes to the MENA region were in sharp decline. The crisis has also accelerated the region's uncertainty in the wood products market. In January\u2013February, 20% less softwood lumber was exported to Egypt, 21% to Saudi Arabia, 16% to Algeria and 10% to Israel compared to the same period last year. In 2025, the value of softwood lumber exports to the MENA region was almost EUR 600 million. This is an important market area for the entire Finnish lumber industry.<\/p>\n
\"The negative effects of the Middle East crisis are spilling over into the entire sawmill industry value chain. Logistics costs have risen and uncertainty in export markets has increased. Overall, the first quarter was bad, and the second quarter seems to continue on the same path,\" reflects Tino Aalto, CEO of the Finnish Sawmill Industry Association.<\/p>\n
In January\u2013February 2026, export volumes to Asia decreased. Lumber was delivered to China by 48% and to Japan by 21% less than in the corresponding period of the previous year. In 2025, the total value of exports to Asia was approximately 500 million euros.<\/p>\n
Companies in the sawmill industry are strongly affected by fuel prices. Costs arise from harvesting wood and transporting raw materials, by-products and finished wood products. These account for almost 20% of a sawmill company's total costs. In Finland, the diesel fuel price index rose by 24% in March (overall index +6%\/month), and the trend has continued in April. The Baltic Dry Index, which describes international freight, has risen by 40% since March.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":98670,"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-98669","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-daily-news"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n