Growing softwood lumber exports

Article by Birgit Fingerlos (adapted for holzkurier.com; translated by Eva Guzely) | 31.03.2025 - 10:10

In January, Finland’s softwood lumber exports (incl. planed timber) were well above last year’s level. With the exception of China, increases were recorded on all of Finland’s main foreign markets.

In January, Finland exported a total of 712,500 m³ of softwood lumber (incl. planed timber), i.e. 22% more than in the same month of 2024 (584,000 m³). When you look at long-term figures, you can see that export volumes were higher in January of 2023, 2019, 2018 and 2017.

Egypt, Finland’s main buyer, received 77,500 m³ of softwood lumber in January and thus 11% more than last year. 62,000 m³ (+36%) were delivered to Great Britain, the second most important foreign market for Finnish softwood lumber. Estonia ranks third with a trade volume of 59,000 m³ (+27%). Marked increases were also recorded in exports to Germany (44,000 m³; +23%), France (41,000 m³; +23%), Israel (36,000 m³; +87%), Saudi Arabia (35,000 m³; +95%) and Morocco (28,000 m³; +104%). China is the only country in the Top 10 ranking to record a year-on-year decrease (30,000 m³; -52%), as figures published by the Finnish Statistical Office show.

As always, you can find more detailed export figures in our Datacube.