Finnish sawmills starved by log shortages

Finnish sawmills continued to face difficulties in finding sufficient logs to feed their production during May, even in the current climate of reduced output, according to the Finish Forest Industries Federation (FFIF).

Forest industry timber procurement from private forests in Finland was about 349,000m³ while the January-May figure amounted to 2.9 million m³ – a 36% decrease from a year ago.

Purchases of pine logs were down 56%, spruce logs by 52% and birch logs by 71%.

With log shortages affecting sawmilling operations, softwood cutting stands that can be harvested in the summer are in good demand.

“The profitability of sawmills was weak in the first quarter and they will not be able to survive these shortages for very long,” said Antro Säilä, FFIF’s senior vice-president of business environment and innovation.

“What is more, Finnish raw material costs remain higher than in the competing countries.”

FFIF said forest owners should take advantage of the current 50% tax relief on timber sales revenues.