A total of 5.5 million m3 of roundwood and forest industry by-products was imported to Finland, which is 56% less than in the previous year. The war in Ukraine significantly changed wood trade in the Baltic Sea region and the flows of foreign wood into Finland. Previously, Russia was the most important source of foreign wood for Finland, but imports from Russia ended last spring.
“Before the war, Russia’s share had been approximately three quarters of wood imports, but in 2022 it was 27%. The shares of Estonia and Latvia increased to slightly more than a fifth, while 18% of wood came from Sweden. Batches of wood were also imported from Latin America and Africa,” says Eeva Vaahtera, senior statistician at the Natural Resources Institute Finland (Luke).
Of the wood imported in 2022, 56% was pulpwood, 28% chips and 2% logs. The rest consisted of forest industry by-products (wood pellets, sawdust, etc.) and fuelwood.
Wood import prices began to rise. Depending on the tree species, an average of Euro 64–71 per cubic metre was paid for pulpwood at the border, which is in real terms 19–62% more than in the previous year (deflated using the wholesale price index, 1949=100). The price of birch pulpwood increased most. However, the prices remained below the peak figures of 2008, which were partly due to an increase in wood export customs duties imposed by Russia. At that time, the real price of pulpwood increased to more than Euro 80 and of chips to more than Euro 70 per cubic metre.
In 2022, the real unit price of wood chips increased by 40% from the previous year, ending up at Euro 67 per cubic metre on average.
“Wood exports grew by 45% from the previous year to slightly more than two million cubic metres in 2022. Neary three fourths of wood was exported to Sweden, 7% to Estonia and 5% to Poland,” Vaahtera continues.
The annual value of wood exports grew in real terms by 23% to EUR 154 million. The most exported wood was pine logs, birch pulpwood and pine pulpwood. However, the prices of pine logs and pine pulpwood, decreased from the previous year in real terms. The average export price for pine logs was EUR 70 per cubic metre (−7% from the previous year) and for pine pulpwood EUR 85 (−22%). By contrast, the export price of birch pulpwood increased to EUR 60 per cubic metre (+3%).
