Export earnings of Finland's pulp and paper industries in 2022 down 6% year-over-year to €10.6B; paperboard accounts for 27% of forest industry's export earnings, with paper covering 21% and pulp 20%, as pulp, fine paper, paperboard volumes drop: Luke

October 5, 2023 (press release) –

The volume of wood imports dropped to 5.8 million cubic metres in 2022, decreasing by more than a half from the previous year. Forest industry exports from Finland decreased in real terms by 7% to EUR 14.7 billion (deflated using wholesale price index, 1949=100).

Wood imports

• A total of 5.8 million cubic metres of roundwood and forest industry by-products was imported to Finland, which is 54% less than in the previous year. Of the wood imported, 54% was pulpwood, 29% chips and 3% logs.
• Russia’s share of wood imports dropped 26%. Due to sanctions, wood imports from Russia practically stopped in July. The share of Estonia rose to 23% and Latvia to 21%. From Sweden came 19% of imported wood.

Exports of the forest industries

• The value of exported forest industry products totalled EUR 14.7 billion in 2022. Due to high inflation, this was 7% less than in the previous year in real terms, even though the nominal export earnings increased. The forest industry accounted for 18% of the total value of Finland’s goods exports.
• Of the forest industry’s export earnings, 61% came from Europe and 21% from Asia. The most important trading partners were Germany (12% of export earnings), China (9%) and the United States (8%).
• The most important product group for exports was paperboard, which accounted for 27% of the forest industry’s export earnings. Paper covered 21% and pulp a fifth, and the share of sawn goods was 18%.
• The wood-products industries’ export earnings were EUR 4.1 billion, which was 11% less than in the previous year in real terms. A total of 8.6 million cubic metres of sawn goods were exported, only slightly lower than in the previous year. The real value of sawn goods exports decreased by 16% to EUR 2.6 billion. The export volume of plywood decreased by 6% to 0.9 million cubic metres, while the value of the exports increased by 3% to EUR 0.7 billion.
• The export earnings of the pulp and paper industries decreased by 6% in real terms to EUR 10.6 billion from previous year. The export value of bleached sulphate pulp remained at EUR 2.6 billion, even though the volume decreased by 7%. The volume of magazine paper exports decreased by more than a quarter, but the value only dropped by 6% to EUR 1.4 billion. The export volume of fine paper decreased by 42% and value by 22% to EUR 1 billion. The export value of paperboard increased by 1% to EUR 4.0 billion and the export volume decreased by 1%.

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