Finland records a decrease in softwood lumber exports

Article by Raphael Kerschbaumer (translated by Eva Guzely) | 29.07.2024 - 10:27

From January to May, Finland saw its softwood lumber exports decrease by 10% compared to 2023. The country’s main foreign markets Egypt and Japan, on the other hand, were still doing well and increased their purchases compared to last year.

In the first five months, Finland exported around 3.2 million m³ of softwood lumber. In the same period of last year, the total export volume was still around 350,000 m³ bigger.

Europeans, in particular, purchased much smaller volumes of Finnish softwood lumber, for example Great Britain (280,000 m³; -12%), France (180,000 m³; -25%) and Germany (175,000 m³; -18%). Double-digit decreases were also recorded in exports to China (240,000 m³, -18%) and Israel (140,000 m³; -28%).

A strong upward trend can be observed in Egypt (420,000 m³; +10%) and Japan (310,000 m³; +33%), Finland’s most important export markets. Nevertheless, purchases by the two countries were not enough to offset decreases on the other markets.