Fall in standing sales prices for roundwood in Finland continues in September; average prices for spruce and pine logs down by 4% compared to August, pulpwood prices fall by same amount, birch log prices unchanged: Luke

Sample article from our Forestry & Timberland

HELSINKI , October 20, 2023 (press release) –

The fall in standing sales prices continued in September. Average prices for spruce and pine logs fell by 4% compared to August and pulpwood prices fell by the same amount. Birch log prices remained unchanged.

Since June, the volume of timber trade has been about a third lower than in the previous year. However, due to a busy start to the year, more timber was traded in January-September than in previous years.

Timber prices

The average price paid for spruce logs in standing sales in September was EUR 71.3 per cubic metre, and the average price for pine logs was EUR 67.1. These prices fell by 4% from August and ended up 5% below the average prices for the whole of last year in real terms.
The average price of birch logs was EUR 59.1. It was the same as in August and 15% higher than the average for the whole of last year.
Standing sales prices for pulpwood continued to fall. Compared to the previous month, they fell by 4–5%, but were still 15–23% above last year's average prices. The average price of spruce fell to EUR 26.6, birch to EUR 25.4 and pine to EUR 24.4 per cubic metre.
In delivery sales, average prices for pulpwood fell slightly from August, ending at EUR 45–47. Average prices for the whole of last year were exceeded by 18–20%.

Average timber prices and their real changes in private forests, September 2023

	September 2023	Compared to the previous month	Compared to the previous year as a whole
	€/m3	%	%
Standing sales
Pine logs	67,12	-4	-5
Spruce logs	71,34	-4	-5
Birch logs	59,13	0	15
Pine pulpwood	24,39	-5	17
Spruce pulpwood	26,64	-4	15
Birch pulpwood	25,35	-4	23
Delivery sales
Pine pulpwood	45,30	0	20
Spruce pulpwood	47,20	-1	19
Birch pulpwood	46,48	-3	18

Trade volumes

In September, the volume of industrial roundwood purchased from private forests was 32 per cent lower than last year and 28 per cent below the average for the previous five years.
In January-September, timber trade was 10 per cent higher than a year ago and five per cent higher than the average for the previous five years. Compared to the previous five years, trade in logs was up seven per cent and trade in pulpwood was up two per cent.

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 September 2023, the annual increase in consumer prices was around six 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.

To view the original on Luke's website, including any omitted graphs, click here.

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