Finland was dynamically increasing supplies of birch veneer logs in 2018

After a heavy 12% decline in round wood exports in 2017 (mainly in the segment softwood logs and pulpwood), sales to Finland in 2018 were at the level of the previous year.

However, the product structure of sales has changed. In 2018, there was an increase in the export of veneer logs by 37% (YoY) to 237,000 m3 (the growth especially accelerated in the second half of 2018, when it became known that the Russian government had approved the introduction of temporary restrictions on export starting from 2019), aspen pulpwood – +11.6% to 232,000 m3, and birch pulpwood (>15 cm diameter) – by 1% to 2.9 million m3. Total exports of hardwood logs from Russia to Finland amounted to 4.3 million m3 (+2.9% YoY).

Exports of unprocessed softwood in 2018 showed a minimal increase: +0.3% to 847,000 m3. Sales of spruce sawlogs made up 184,000 m3 (-21% YoY), pine sawlogs – 90,000 m3 (-53% YoY), spruce pulpwood – 286,000 m3 +17% (YoY), pine pulpwood – 286,000 m3 (+61% YoY).