Delivery contracts in 2013 accounted for a total of 5 million m3 of timber and their share fell from 18% of total timber sales in 2012 to 15% in 2013. About three quarters of delivery contract procurements were pulpwood.

According to the Federation, structural reforms are needed to boost activity on the timber market: Finland cannot afford to not make the most of its forests. Its growing stock almost doubles every year compared to logging volumes, and as much as a quarter of sustainable logging opportunities go unused each year.

“The problem is that a great deal of Finland’s forest is not in the sphere of market activity and forests are left unmanaged. The short supply keeps costs high, weakens investment conditions that are based on domestic wood, and does not support the growth of the national economy. The functioning of the timber markets must be improved with structural reforms that revive the forest economy, and tax solutions are a key element in this respect,” says Forests Director Tomi Salo of the Finnish Forest Industries Federation.