Trade of energywood, 2nd quarter 2023

In January–June, almost half more of energywood was purchased as the average for the previous five years. The rise is explained by a doubling of the trade in logging residues, as the volume of pruned stems fell by a tenth.

In the second quarter of the year, prices continued to rise. In standing sales, the average price of logging residues was one and a half times as high and price of pruned stems twice as high as during the whole of last year. Delivery prices also increased, but less.

Prices

• In the second quarter of the year, almost two thirds of the trade in energywood was logging residues. The average price paid for logging residues in standing sales was EUR 8.1 per cubic metre.
• Compared to the previous quarter, the average price rose by 36 per cent in real terms and by 55 per cent compared to the whole of last year. In delivery sales the price rose by 17 per cent from the previous quarter to EUR 24.4.
• One quarter of the energywood trade was pruned stems, and the average price paid for it in standing sales was EUR 17.4 per cubic metre. This was 13 per cent higher than at the beginning of the year and 97 per cent higher than the average price for the whole of last year. In delivery sales the mean roadside price rose by five per cent from the previous quarter to EUR 40.9. It was 21 per cent above the average price of last year.
• As usual, regional price variation was high.

Trade volumes

• A total of 1.6 million cubic metres of energywood trade was recorded in the statistics in the second quarter of the year. The volume increased by 57 per cent year-on-year and by 45 per cent compared to the average of the previous five years.
• In January–June, trade was 60 per cent higher than a year ago and 47 per cent higher than in the previous five years. Compared to the previous five years, trade in logging residues doubled and trade in pruned stems fell by a tenth.

Background information on the statistics

Unit prices in roundwood trade are recorded in the statistical database at the fair prices valid each time. However, price changes are examined in the texts and graphs in real terms by eliminating the change in value using the cost-of-living index (1951:10=100). In the second quarter of 2023, the annual increase in consumer prices was seven per cent.

The recorded prices are based on prices entered in wood trade agreements between the buyers and sellers. Any other increments and services related to wood trade are not included in the statistics. The prices do not include government subsidies.

The information is not rounded up to correspond to the total non-industrial private wood trade in Finland. This means that the published wood volumes represent only just over half of the energywood purchased from non-industrial private forests.