Foreign trade in roundwood and forest industry products by country 2022 (provisional)

The volume of wood imports dropped to 5.5 million cubic metres in 2022, decreasing by more than a half from the previous year. Forest industry exports from Finland decreased in real terms by 8% to EUR 14.6 billion (deflated using wholesale price index, 1949=100).

• A total of 5.5 million cubic metres of roundwood and forest industry by-products was imported to Finland, which is 56% less than in the previous year. Of the wood imported, 56% was pulpwood, 28% chips and 2% logs.
• Russia’s share of wood imports dropped 27%. Due to sanctions, wood imports from Russia practically stopped in July. The share of Estonia rose to 23% and Latvia to 21%. From Sweden came 18% of imported wood.
• The value of exported forest industry products totalled EUR 14.6 billion in 2022. Due to high inflation, this was 8% less than in the previous year in real terms, even though the nominal export earnings increased. The forest industry accounted for 18% of the total value of Finland’s goods exports.
• Of the forest industry’s export earnings, 60% came from Europe and 21% from Asia. The most important trading partners were Germany (12% of export earnings), China (9%) and the United States (8%).
• The most important product group for exports was paperboard, which accounted for 27% of the forest industry’s export earnings. Paper covered 21% and pulp a fifth, and the share of sawn goods was 18%.
• The wood-products industries’ export earnings were EUR 4.1 billion, which was 12% less than in the previous year in real terms. A total of 8.5 million cubic metres of sawn goods were exported, only slightly lower than in the previous year. The real value of sawn goods exports decreased by 17% to EUR 2.6 billion. The export volume of plywood decreased by 6% to 0.9 million cubic metres, while the value of the exports increased by a couple of per cent.
• The export earnings of the pulp and paper industries decreased by 6% in real terms to EUR 10.5 billion from previous year. The export value of bleached sulphate pulp remained at EUR 2.6 billion, even though the volume decreased by 7%. The volume of magazine paper exports decreased by more than a quarter, but the value only dropped by 6%. The export volume of fine paper decreased by 42% and value by 22%. The export value of paperboard remained at the previous year’s level and the export volume decreased by 1%.