In Finland, the quantities of roundwood purchased from the timber industry in the first quarter were well below the figures for the previous year.
According to the data published by the Finnish Forest Industries Federation (FFIF), only 5.8 million m³ of roundwood was purchased over by FFIF member companies in the first three months.
Compared to the same quarter of the previous year, this represents a decline of 34 %This is primarily due to the strikes in the Finnish timber industry, which started in December 2019 and continued in January/February. In the Finnish sawmill industry alone, the production losses due to the strike measures are estimated at around 1.1-1.3 million m³.
This was ultimately also associated with a reduction in demand for softwood logs of around 2.5 million m³.
After the wage dispute was settled on 23 February, the quantities of roundwood purchased by the industry have also risen significantly again.
In the last weeks of March and the first weeks of April, the quantities were already above the respective level of the previous year.
