Wood Resources International LLC: Trade of Logs in Baltic Sea Region Fell 10% in 2015 Because of Substantially Lower Demand f...
10 February 2016 - 1:15PM
Business Wire
After reaching a record high in 2014, log trade in the Baltic
Sea fell by 10% in 2015. Most of the decline was that of softwood
pulplogs, while trade of sawlogs actually increased to reach its
highest level since 2007, according to the Wood Resource Quarterly.
Russia has been surpassed by the Baltic States as the major
softwood log supply region.
The forest industry in the Baltic Sea region has for many
decades imported large volumes of wood raw-material from their
neighboring countries as a complement to their typically less
costly local wood sources. For example, pulp mills in Finland and
Sweden imported approximately 18% and 15%, respectively, of their
wood fiber needs in 2014.
The log market in the Baltic Sea is one of the most active
markets in the world with softwood log trade accounting for over
20% of global trade, and shipments of hardwood logs reaching almost
29% of world trade of temperate hardwoods in 2015. Finland and
Sweden are the major importing countries, but forest companies in
Germany and Poland have also been importing substantial log volumes
over the past five years.
In 2014, total log trade to the Nordic countries reached a
six-year high of 14.3 million m3 after five years of consecutive
increases. In 2015, total shipments fell over 10% mainly because of
lower demand for softwood pulplogs, according to the Wood Resource
Quarterly (WRQ). Trade of softwood sawlogs on the other hand,
reached its highest level since 2007 last year when 1.6 million m3
was imported primarily to sawmills in Sweden.
The major log trade flows in Northern Europe the past few years
have been:
- Norway to Sweden (softwood)
- Latvia to Sweden (softwood and
hardwood)
- Russia to Finland (softwood and
hardwood)
- Estonia to Sweden (hardwood)
Ten years ago, Russia exported about 7.5 million m3 of softwood
logs to the Nordic countries but after the introduction of the
country’s log export duties, shipments plunged, and over the past
three years, volumes have been just over one million m3 annually.
With the fall of Russian log exports, log exporters in the Baltic
States stepped in and the region became the major log supplier of
logs to sawmills and pulp mills in the Nordic countries and
Germany. However, over the past four years, shipments of softwood
logs have been in steady decline from 3.1 million m3 in 2011 to
only approximately 1.3 million m3 in 2015, as reported in the
WRQ.
It is interesting to note that during the same period, exports
of hardwood logs from the Baltic States have fallen almost 30%,
while Russia has become a more aggressive player as the weak Ruble
has made Russian logs more competitive.
Global lumber, sawlog and pulpwood market reporting is included
in the 52-page quarterly publication Wood Resource Quarterly (WRQ).
The report, which was established in 1988 and has subscribers in
over 30 countries, tracks sawlog, pulpwood, lumber and pellet
prices, trade and market developments in most key regions around
the world. To subscribe to the WRQ, please go to
www.woodprices.com
Wood Resources International LLC (WRI), an internationally
recognized forest industry-consulting firm established in 1987,
publishes two quarterly timber price reports and have subscribers
in over 30 countries. The Wood Resource Quarterly, established in
1988, is a 52-page market report and includes sawlog prices,
pulpwood and wood chip price and market commentary to developments
in global timber, biomass and forest industry. The other report,
the North Americam Wood Fiber Review, tracks prices of sawlogs,
pulpwood, wood chips and biomass in most regions of Canada and the
US.
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