In July 2023, Finland's forest industry product exports amounted to Euro 0.84 billion, which represented a 27% reduction in real terms when compared to the average monthly export value of 2022. The volume of wood imports for the same month reached 0.25 million cubic meters, marking the lowest monthly import volume this year, as reported by the Natural Resources Institute Finland (Luke).
Among the wood imports in July, 59% consisted of pulpwood, with chips making up a significant quarter of the total. Logs accounted for just 1%, while fuelwood and by-products wood constituted 14%.
From January to July, the volume of wood imports reached 3.14 million cubic meters, showing a 3% increase compared to the previous year. Pulpwood imports saw a significant rise of 28%, while chip imports decreased by 28% and log imports by 15%.
During the same January to July period, the exports value of forest industry products amounted to Euro 7.08 billion, reflecting an 11% decrease in real terms compared to the previous year (adjusted using the wholesale price index with a base year of 1949=100).
In July 2023, the export price of sawn goods stood at Euro 228 per cubic meter, a 22% decrease in real terms compared to the previous year's average price. The price of plywood was Euro 747 per cubic meter, showing a 3% increase in real terms from the previous year's average.
Among the prominent exports from the pulp and paper industries, the export prices of magazine paper and paperboard saw a slight rise, with both being 2% higher than the previous year's average. In July, the export price of bleached sulphate pulp was nearly a quarter lower in real terms than the previous year's average, at Euro 544 per tonne. The export price of fine paper was Euro 1,047 per tonne, marking an almost ten percent decrease in real terms from the previous year's average price.
