13.08.2024, 12:15
There was a timber industry crisis in Finland due to the ban on wood from Russia
Source: OREANDA-NEWS
OREANDA-NEWS The production of lumber has sharply decreased, enterprises are closing, prices are breaking records — these are the consequences of the Finns abandoning Russian timber. Neither the deforestation of their own forests nor supplies from other countries helped. About what they are counting on in Helsinki — in the RIA Novosti article.
Logs have risen in price to a 15-year high. As a result, the raw materials and the final product — lumber — cost almost the same. The Association of the Sawmill Industry is sounding the alarm: production has fallen from 12 million cubic meters to ten.
Experts expect an acute shortage. For example, Jacob Donner-Amnell from the University of Eastern Finland predicts a long period of high prices. Wood, he said, "may not be enough for everyone."
According to the Federal Customs Service, timber exports to the current unfriendly countries in 2021 reached 504 million euros. Of these, 374.5 million went to Finland.
"The Finns deprived themselves of 2.8 million cubic meters of fuelwood, 4.8 million of unprocessed timber and 0.5 million of sawn timber. There are more than eight million cubic meters in total," notes Anastasia Priklyova, Associate Professor of the Department of International Business at Plekhanov Russian University of Economics.
We will have to cut down our own forests, local industry organizations warned back in 2022. It would seem that there are resources. According to the calculations of the Institute of Natural Resources of Finland, forests account for 77% of the country's territory. This is half a percent of the world's timber reserves, the most in Europe.
According to various estimates, 69-73 million cubic meters of wood were harvested in Finland in 2023 - 86-91% of the maximum allowable level. That is, almost all Russian imports can be replaced, says Priklyova.
"So the problems have arisen at the corporate level. For example, with purchases where the share of households is high (about 60% of forests are owned by the population). Finnish enterprises are also switching to alternative energy sources, which is at odds with the tasks of timber processing. Apparently, the interests of the state, business and the population did not coincide," the economist argues.
In addition, the Finns are forced to use the forest not for processing, but for heating — in the form of chips or pellets. After all, there are no Russian imports, and thermal power plants have abandoned peat and coal.
In general, deforestation is difficult due to EU carbon sequestration obligations. And forests are growing slowly and are unlikely to recover to their previous level, the media write.
Logs have risen in price to a 15-year high. As a result, the raw materials and the final product — lumber — cost almost the same. The Association of the Sawmill Industry is sounding the alarm: production has fallen from 12 million cubic meters to ten.
Experts expect an acute shortage. For example, Jacob Donner-Amnell from the University of Eastern Finland predicts a long period of high prices. Wood, he said, "may not be enough for everyone."
According to the Federal Customs Service, timber exports to the current unfriendly countries in 2021 reached 504 million euros. Of these, 374.5 million went to Finland.
"The Finns deprived themselves of 2.8 million cubic meters of fuelwood, 4.8 million of unprocessed timber and 0.5 million of sawn timber. There are more than eight million cubic meters in total," notes Anastasia Priklyova, Associate Professor of the Department of International Business at Plekhanov Russian University of Economics.
We will have to cut down our own forests, local industry organizations warned back in 2022. It would seem that there are resources. According to the calculations of the Institute of Natural Resources of Finland, forests account for 77% of the country's territory. This is half a percent of the world's timber reserves, the most in Europe.
According to various estimates, 69-73 million cubic meters of wood were harvested in Finland in 2023 - 86-91% of the maximum allowable level. That is, almost all Russian imports can be replaced, says Priklyova.
"So the problems have arisen at the corporate level. For example, with purchases where the share of households is high (about 60% of forests are owned by the population). Finnish enterprises are also switching to alternative energy sources, which is at odds with the tasks of timber processing. Apparently, the interests of the state, business and the population did not coincide," the economist argues.
In addition, the Finns are forced to use the forest not for processing, but for heating — in the form of chips or pellets. After all, there are no Russian imports, and thermal power plants have abandoned peat and coal.
In general, deforestation is difficult due to EU carbon sequestration obligations. And forests are growing slowly and are unlikely to recover to their previous level, the media write.
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