Increasing timber consumption by the Finnish forest industry will rely on domestic timber even more than before. Commercial roundwood removals will reach new record levels. Roundwood trade has picked up notably, especially due to high demand for spruce. Growth was evident already in the beginning of this year and the trade will keep growing next year. Roundwood prices are expected to remain steady.
Forest industry investments elevate use of roundwood
Finland's forest industry investments in production capacity and especially the production of spruce timber increase forest industry’s use of wood in 2016. The total use of wood will increase also next year by a couple of percent reaching 68 million cubic metres as new manufacturing capacity will start operating. Altogether the use of wood does not reach the level of the peak years preceding the recent recession but the use of domestic wood and the volumes of roundwood removals exceed records already during this forecast period. Roundwood trade and removals in Finland will reach the full annual level of forest industry’s increased need for raw materials only in 2018.