Production of paperboard for packaging use came to 2.8 million t. Paperboard production volumes showed signs of a slight recovery in the final quarter of 2012 and this helped overall annual production to exceed the previous year's volume by about 1%. Pulp production totalled 6.8 million t, up more than 1% from 2011. Pulp exports were up more than 12% from the previous year.

Sawn timber production was down 4% on the previous year and came to 9.3 million m3. The volume of exports was slightly higher than in 2011, however. Domestic consumption decreased. Weak demand in Europe was compensated by growing demand in the Middle East and North Africa as well as by the ongoing rebuilding effort in Japan. The industry's raw wood costs were high relative to the market prices fetched by end products. This burdened especially the sawmill industry, whose raw material expenses account for some 70% of overall production costs.

The main markets of the Finnish forest industry are in Europe, where the economic downturn showed no sign of relenting. The economic crisis further emphasises how significant the competitiveness of the Finnish forest industry is. “If we so desire, domestic decisions can help our competitiveness to be on the winning side once the European economy returns to a growth track,” says Timo Jaatinen, Director General of the Finnish Forest Industries Federation.

“We need immediate decisions on how to compensate, for example, the hundreds of millions of euro in extra costs the Sulphur Directive will cause to the export sector. Plans for a windfall tax that would punish the forest industry must also be dropped. Instead of implementing tax hikes, which burden industrial vitality, we should be looking for means with which to boost, not curb, economic growth,” Jaatinen says.