The Finnish wood processing industry is still feeling the effects of weak international demand for sawn timber, purchasing only 0.36 million m³ of wood from Finnish private forests.
The Finnish Forest Research Institute, Metla, said this was less one fifth of the corresponding amount in 2008. Wood purchases in the first half of 2009 decreased by 69% compared with the same period last year.
Cumulative wood purchases in between January-June 2009 amounted to 3.3 million m³, a reduction of 78% compared with the long-term average.
Despite the weak international demand, there was somewhat better demand for stands which are suitable for summer felling due to a shortage of timber for sawmills.
