Global Trends Review

– 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...

– Ukrainian parliament (Verkhovha Rada) has imposed a 10-year ban on unprocessed log exports. – Despite the decline in domestic consumption by 11%, Sweden’s wood pellet production increased by 4% in 2014, mainly due to increased exports. –...

– American woodworking equipment producer USNR announced that it has acquired Söderhamn Eriksson (Sweden). – Raute Corporation will supply plywood equipment for the veneer mill of Latvijas Finieris Group in Kohila, Estonia. – Stora Enso plans to rationalise...

– Lumber prices declined for much of the fall of 2014 in both Sweden and Finland, because the export market weakened in the second half of the year, WRQ reports – According to ITTO, January housing starts in...

– Germany’s woodworking machinery industry is expecting solid sales growth in 2015, but downturn is expected in Russia. – Raute’s net sales amounted to €94.0 million in 2014, up 13%. – John Deere’s global forestry sales in 2015...

– On the background of oil prices being misbalanced, Canadian forestry is flourishing. – In 2014, British Columbia’s softwood lumber exports to China have fallen for the first time in nearly a decade. – The forest business in...