Prices for pulpwood in Finland remain at record high in standing sales in June; volume of timber trade in June was 31% down on prior year, 20% below average for previous five years: Luke

HELSINKI , July 24, 2023 (press release) –

Prices for pulpwood remained at a record high in standing sales in June. Real prices rose by 1–3 per cent from May and by 31–41 per cent from last year. Birch prices have risen the most. Average prices for coniferous logs fell by two per cent from May.

The volume of timber trade in June was 31 per cent down on the year before and 20 per cent below the average for the previous five years. During the first half of the year, 16 per cent more timber was purchased than in the previous five years.

Timber prices

• In standing sales, the average price paid for spruce logs in June was EUR 77.8 and for pine logs EUR 73.7 per cubic metre. Real prices fell by two per cent from May, but were 4–5 per cent higher than the average for the whole of last year.
• The average price of birch logs was EUR 60.7. This was four per cent more than in May and 19 per cent higher than the average for the whole of last year.
• For pulpwood, the average standing sale price rose by 1–3 per cent from the previous month and by 31–41 per cent from the whole of last year. The biggest increase was for birch. The average price of spruce rose to EUR 30.2, birch to 29.1 and pine to EUR 27.6 per cubic metre.
• Standing sale prices for pulpwood remained at a record high. The real prices of pine and birch pulpwood was the highest ever in the monthly statistics, which began in 1995. The last time the average price for spruce was higher than this was in 2008.
• In delivery sales, pulpwood prices fell by 3–10 per cent from May. However, average prices for the whole of last year were still exceeded by 11–17 per cent.

Trade volumes

• In June, 4.0 million cubic metres of industrial roundwood purchased from private forests were recorded in the statistics. This was 31 per cent down on the previous year and 20 per cent lower than the average for the previous five years.
• In January-June, timber trade was 35 per cent higher than a year ago and 16 per cent higher than the average for the previous five years. Compared to the previous five years, trade in logs was up 19 per cent and trade in pulpwood was up 12 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 June 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, which includes an omitted graph, on Luke's website, click here.

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