The global economic situation reduced foreign trade in the forest industries in 2023
The war in Ukraine and the uncertain global economic situation reduced exports in Finland’s forest industries in 2023. The value of forest industry product exports decreased by 16% from the previous year in real terms to €12 billion (deflated using the wholesale price index; 1949=100). The total value of forest industry and wood imports also decreased by 16% in real terms. Total wood imports fell by 13% to five million cubic metres.
Forest industry exports decreasing
Last year, the value of exported forest industry products totalled €12 billion, covering 16% of Finland’s total exports of goods. Of the value of forest industry exports, pulp and paper industry products accounted for 74%, wood products for 25%, and roundwood and by-products for 1%.
“The value of forest industry exports fell by 16% from the previous year in real terms due to a decrease in global demand. The export value of the wood products industry decreased by a quarter and that of the pulp and paper industries by 13%,” says Tiina Mäkipää, Senior Statistician at the Natural Resources Institute Finland (Luke).
The export volume of pulp, bleached kraft pulp mostly, increased. Pulp exports totalled 4.5 million tonnes, up by a tenth from the previous year. However, the value of pulp exports decreased by 4% in real terms. The export volume of paper was 2.7 million tonnes (-10%) and that of board 3.3 million tonnes (-20%). The value of paper exports fell by 13% and that of board exports by 20%.
A total of 8.4 million cubic metres of sawn goods was exported, of which Europe accounted for 48%. The export value of sawn goods decreased from 27% from the previous year to €1.9 billion. The volume of sawn goods exported to Europe increased by 4% from the previous year, while the export value fell by 23% to €1 billion.
Germany and China key export partners
The most significant partner in forest industry and wood exports was Germany with an export value of €1.5 billion, followed by China at €1.4 billion. The largest buyer of sawn goods was the UK (€0.2 billion) measured by value and Egypt (1.1 million cubic metres) measured by volume.
“China was the most significant buyer of pulp at €1.2 billion. Volume of paper exports were highest in value to the United States and highest in volume to Germany,” says Mäkipää.
Exports to Germany were high for both paper and paperboard, totalling over €0.9 billion. The main products sold to Germany were coated magazine paper and board.
The largest volume of forest industry products was imported from Sweden and Estonia. The value of imports from Sweden was €0.3 billion, largely consisting of pulp and paper industry products. Imports of forest industry products from Estonia totalled almost €0.3 billion, with wooden furniture and other wooden products accounting for the most. In addition, the most of roundwood was imported from Estonia with a value of more than €0.1 billion.
The role of the EU Member States in imports increased
In 2023, the import value of forest industry products and wood totalled €2 billion, showing a decrease of 16% from the previous year. The pulp and paper industries accounted for 38%, the wood products industries for 41%, and roundwood and by-products for 21%.
The import value of wood industry products fell by 20% to €0.8 billion. The value of wood products imported from Europe also decreased by 20% in real terms, while imports of wood products from the EU Member States only dropped by 9%. Wood products were mostly imported from the EU Member States.
The import value of pulp and paper fell by 17% to €0.8 billion. The value of pulp and paper industry imports from Europe was €0.6 billion, down by 15% from the year before. The EU Member States accounted for almost all pulp and paper industry imports from Europe.
The import value of sawn goods fell by as much as 68% to €37.6 million. The volume of sawn goods imported from Europe and other countries dropped by almost 90% after sawn goods were no longer imported from Russia. The EU accounted for 79% of all imported sawn goods, while the corresponding figure for the EU Member States in the year before was 13%.
The import value of roundwood and by-products was roughly €0.4 billion, showing a decrease of 2% from the previous year in real terms. Nearly all roundwood and by-products were imported from the EU. Pulpwood and chips accounted for the majority of wood imports. The average import price of pulpwood (from conifer of birch) increased by 22% and that of woodchips by up to 47%, compared to the average of the previous ten years.
