Foreign trade in roundwood and forest industry products, 6/2023 (preliminary)

In June 2023 the exports value of forest industry products totalled EUR 0.97 billion which was in real terms 16% smaller the average monthly export value in 2022. The volume of wood imports ended up at 0.35 million cubic metres, which was almost a quarter lower than the average volume of the previous year.

Wood imports

• Of imported wood in June 74% was pulpwood and 15% chips. The share of logs was 2% and fuelwood 6%. The remaining 3% consisted of by-products wood.
• In the first half of the year, the volume of wood imports increased by 7% compared to the previous year to 2.90 million cubic metres. All other roundwood assortments import volumes were lower than in the previous year, except for pulpwood, which increased by 42%. By the end of June, a total of 507 000 cubic metres of pine pulpwood had been imported into Finland, more than 300 000 cubic metres more than in the first half of the previous year.
• The volume of imported fuelwood has increased significantly compared to the first half of last year. In January-June 2022, the import volume remained at 30 000 cubic metres, while at the end of June this year it was 264 000 cubic metres.

Exports of the forest industries

• In the first half of the year the exports value of forest industry products totalled EUR 6.28 billion. Of the exports value the share of paperboard was 26%, pulp 23% and paper 20%. The share of sawn goods was 16% and plywood 5%.
• In the first half of the year, export values and volumes of wood-products industries fell. The volume of exports of sawn goods remained almost unchanged, but the value fell by a third as export prices fell. Plywood exports fell by 17%, but as prices rose, the value of exports fell by only 5%.
• Over the same period, the export value of the pulp and paper industries increased by 4%. Exports of bleached sulphate pulp increased by more than a third and the export value rose by almost the same proportion. For magazine paper and fine paper, higher export prices than in the first half of the previous year increased the export value more than the export volume. The export volume and value of paperboard was one fifth lower than in the previous year.