Volumes and prices in roundwood trade, 2/2025

February was a busy month for roundwood trade, considering the time of year. Total purchases of industrial wood were 4% higher than a year earlier and exceeded the average for February of the previous five years by 15%. During the early part of the year, a quarter more roundwood was purchased than the average for the previous five years.

In standing sales, average prices for the main roundwood assortments remained stable in January, with monthly changes of no more than 1%.

Timber prices

• in February standing sales, average prices of logs remained at the same level as in January. The price paid for spruce logs was just over EUR 82 and for pine logs EUR 80 per cubic metre. The average price for birch logs remained at 65 euros.
• In standing sales of pulpwood, the average price of spruce rose slightly to almost EUR 34, compared to EUR 32 per cubic metre for pine and birch.
• In delivery sales of pulpwood, average prices for all species remained close to EUR 53. Pine pulpwood prices remained at the January level, while spruce and birch prices fell by 1%.

Average timber prices and their real changes in February 2025

Trade volumes

• In February, 4% more industrial roundwood was purchased from private forests than a year earlier. This was 15% above the average for the previous five years.
• In January-February, the total trade volume was 12% higher than a year ago and 25% higher than the average for the previous five years. Compared to the previous five years, trade in logs increased 28% and trade in pulpwood increased 15%.

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. In February 2025, the annual increase in consumer prices was less than half a 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.

Wood trade data for statistics are provided by the largest buyers of wood and forest management associations. As the information is not rounded up to correspond to the total non-industrial private wood trade in Finland, the published wood volumes only represent about 90 per cent of the wood purchased by forest industries from non-industrial private forests.