Until 2021, Finnish pulp mills and sawmills imported around 11 million m³ of pulp and wood chips a year in order to satisfy their demand for wood fiber. Hardwood logs accounted for around half of this import volume. According to Lesprom, 23% of the Finnish pulp sector was dependent on foreign raw material in 2021.
Already in 2021, Russia stopped the export of softwood logs with the aim of supplying its domestic timber industry with inexpensive raw material. However, this stop of exports did not apply to hardwood logs and wood chips. After the EU had imposed sanctions on Russia and Belarus last year, Finland boycotted imports of Russian goods, including forestry and wood products. Imports from Russia started to decrease in the second quarter of 2022 and in the third quarter, wood imports fell to zero.
In order to secure supply of its domestic pulp industry, Finland is trying, among other things, to use more domestic pulpwood and to substitute hardwood with softwood fibers. In addition, imports from Sweden and the Baltic States as well as shipments coming from Brazil, Uruguay and South Africa are intended to replace what used to be Russian quantities.
