Finland's timber market entered the summer holiday period with noticeably weaker trading activity, ending several months of intensive buying that had pushed procurement costs to some of the highest levels seen in recent years. Weekly purchasing volumes fell sharply, while average prices for both sawlogs and pulpwood moved lower across most assortments.<\/p>\n
The slowdown does not point to a collapse in industrial wood consumption. Instead, it suggests that buyers are stepping back after securing substantial volumes earlier in the year, when competition for raw material intensified and forest owners benefited from exceptionally strong prices.<\/p>\n
Weekly purchases fall to the lowest level of the year<\/strong><\/p>\n Member companies of the Finnish Forest Industries Federation purchased around 230,000 cubic metres<\/strong> of timber from private forests during the latest reporting week, less than one-third of the previous week's volume and the weakest weekly result recorded since the beginning of 2026.<\/p>\n The decline interrupted a period of volatile buying that had seen weekly purchases briefly exceed 800,000 cubic metres<\/strong> before returning to more moderate levels.<\/p>\n Although the latest figures point to a quieter market, they should also be viewed in the context of seasonal patterns. Timber procurement often slows during the summer as harvesting activity, transport schedules and industrial maintenance shutdowns temporarily reduce trading.<\/p>\n First-half volumes remain behind 2025<\/strong><\/p>\n Looking beyond weekly fluctuations, Finland's timber market has yet to recover last year's pace.<\/p>\n Including all market participants, timber purchases reached approximately 20.4 million cubic metres<\/strong> during the first six months of the year, leaving cumulative volumes around five million cubic metres<\/strong> below the same period of 2025.<\/p>\n The gap has narrowed only marginally despite several weeks of stronger buying during late spring, indicating that mills have adopted a more selective procurement strategy than a year earlier.<\/p>\n Companies belonging to the Finnish Forest Industries Federation account for roughly 80%<\/strong> of commercial timber purchases, making the data a useful indicator of nationwide market conditions.<\/p>\n Price pressure begins to ease<\/strong><\/p>\n The cooling in purchasing activity has started to influence stumpage prices.<\/p>\n Average prices for pine, spruce and birch sawlogs all edged lower during the latest reporting period, marking the first week this year in which all three major assortments declined simultaneously.<\/p>\n The adjustment remains modest by historical standards. Even after the latest reductions, stumpage prices remain well above long-term averages, reflecting the strong competition for logs that characterised much of the first half of the year.<\/p>\n Birch loses momentum after leading fibrewood market<\/strong><\/p>\n The pulpwood market followed a similar path.<\/p>\n Birch fibre had been the strongest-performing assortment through much of the spring, repeatedly setting new highs while pine and spruce fibre prices stabilised. That trend has now weakened.<\/p>\n The latest figures suggest that upward price momentum has faded across both sawlog and pulpwood markets, although no abrupt correction has yet emerged.<\/p>\n Better log availability changes buyers' behaviour<\/strong><\/p>\n One of the biggest changes in recent weeks has been the balance between supply and demand.<\/p>\n Earlier in the year, many processors competed aggressively for available logs as timber inventories tightened and harvesting volumes remained limited. Higher prices encouraged additional harvesting, gradually improving wood availability across several regions.<\/p>\n With procurement pressure easing, buyers appear less willing to chase higher prices simply to secure deliveries.<\/p>\n The market is therefore shifting from one driven primarily by limited supply towards one in which purchasing decisions are increasingly linked to immediate production needs.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Finland’s timber market entered the summer holiday period with noticeably weaker trading activity, ending several months of intensive buying that had pushed procurement costs to some of the highest levels seen in recent years. Weekly purchasing volumes fell sharply, while … Continue reading \n\n
\n \nAssortment<\/th>\n Average stumpage price<\/th>\n<\/tr>\n<\/thead>\n \n Pine sawlogs<\/td>\n \u20ac78.35\/m\u00b3<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n Spruce sawlogs<\/td>\n \u20ac82.65\/m\u00b3<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n Birch sawlogs<\/td>\n \u20ac61.12\/m\u00b3<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/div>\n \n\n
\n \nAssortment<\/th>\n Average stumpage price<\/th>\n<\/tr>\n<\/thead>\n \n Pine pulpwood<\/td>\n \u20ac23.06\/m\u00b3<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n Spruce pulpwood<\/td>\n \u20ac24.76\/m\u00b3<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n Birch pulpwood<\/td>\n \u20ac24.26\/m\u00b3<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/div>\n