Global Trends Review

– Market situation leads to downtimes at the Swedish lumber mills. Jarl Timber (a part of Norvik Timber) will cut sawn timber production at its plant in Broakulla from two shifts to one. The mill’s capacity is 110,000...

– A Chinese company plans to invest $250 million to build a massive wood-processing plant in New Zealand. Fenglin Wood Industry Group, based in Nanning, has already been carrying out a feasibility study on building and operating a...

– After adjusting production at its spruce sawmills in Finland, Metsä Wood will start statutory employee negotiations to adjust also pine lumber production due to oversupply and price competition. – European lumber exports to Japan in the first...

– According to a representative from one of the main redwood markets in Beijing, some 12 stores selling redwood products have closed and only 2 remained open as of the end of July. The future for solid wood...

– Poland has expressed interest in selling the state-owned plywood manufacturer Sklejka Orzechowo SA (formerly OZPS), Fordaq reported. It is one of the last domestic timber enterprises fully owned by the State Treasury. The privatization process is associated...

– Norwegian wood-products company Moelven will shut down Nössemark Trä AB sawmill in Sweden, Fordaq says quoting Sverige Radio. Moelven’s CEO, Erik Sjölund, hopes that a new owner could be found. – China’s Customs has reported that timber...

– A new £100 million (€140.33 million) biomass terminal planned for the Port of Liverpool will handle up to three million tonnes of wood pellets per year as part of the decarbonisation of Drax power station. – Setra...

– Gradual EU economy revival combined with the global economy upward trend will encourage the growth of demand for the Finnish forest sector products, such a conclusion was reached by the Natural Resources Institute of Finland (Luke). Luke...

– Södra raised the price for standard pine and spruce sawlogs by SEK 20 (EUR 2,16) per cubic metre since 25 May, but a temporary contracting premium of SEK 20 will be introduced to stimulate early contracting. –...

– Total EU imports of Russian birch plywood increased 10% to 785,000 m3 in 2014, reports Fordaq. The market is widely distributed across the continent. In 2014, there was a particularly sharp increase in imports to Germany, which...

– Japan housing starts recovered unexpectedly in March, ITTO reported, +0.7% in March from last year, confounding expectations for a fall of 1.9 percent. – Finnish sawmilling company Keitele Wood Products Oy is completing a new 70,000 m3...

– The price of wood pellets in Germany has fallen sharply in April compared to the previous month. – At the end of the heating season, the price of ENplusA1 wood pellets in Austria has also declined considerably...