Global timber market review #6-2015

– 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 the operational model in Wood Products division Finland and starts negotiations with employees on possible closure of the Pälkäne further processing unit.

– Commercial logging was banned in the state forests of Chinese provinces Inner Mongolia and Jilin on April 1.

– New Zealand export log prices dropped for the first time in eight months, as shipments to China, the nation’s largest market, exceed demand.

– Under the terms of the 2006 Softwood Lumber Agreement (SLA), the trigger for an increase in the export tax rate for Canadian softwood products going to the United States has been reached.

– Log and lumber exports from Western U.S. decreased in volume in 2014 compared to 2013, the U.S. Forest Service’s Pacific Northwest Research Station reported. Exports of west coast logs decreased 13% to a total of 1,706 million board feet (40.25 million m3), mainly due to the drop in Chinese demand.

– In March, the price of wood pellets in Austria dropped for the first time since April 2014.

– The price of wood pellets in Germany remained stable in March as compared to the previous month.

– Swedish company Södra will reduce production volume at Traryd sawmill. The decision was taken on the background of raw hardwood shortage, caused by mild and wet winter, which made hardwood harvesting more difficult.

More detailed review of global market trends of roundwood, lumber, wood panels and pellets as well as news of the Russian timber industry; exclusive articles and interviews; over 25 pages of price charts are available in our digital Russian Timber Journal.