Finland’s Timber Shortage Causes Change in Its Forest Products Industry

The availability of wood as a raw material for industrial use is already a problem in Finland, according to reporting by YLE News (9-13-23). In an interview with the publication, Ali Harlin, a research professor at the VTT Technical Research Center of Finland, said, “The availability of wood as a raw material is becoming increasingly challenging and increasingly limited,” adding that the shortage is particularly acute in southeast Finland.

Before Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine about 18 months ago, Finland imported about 7–10% of the raw wood used in the processing industry from Russia. In southeastern Finland, the share of Russian wood used by mills was even higher. As a result, Finland’s forest industry is now facing a major transformation due to a lack of raw materials.

The first industrial victim of the wood shortage was the Sunila pulp mill in Kotka. The Finnish forest products firm Stora Enso announced in early September that the mill is scheduled to close by the end of the year. Stora Enso has said the mill is no longer profitable, a situation caused especially by the end of imported raw materials from Russia.

In addition to the end of imports from Russia, the growing use of wood in the form of wood chips or pellets in biofuel energy production has contributed to shortages at mills, YLE reported. However, increased forest harvesting is difficult due to the EU’s carbon sink obligations. On top of that, the growth of forests has also declined in recent years and is unlikely to recover to its previous levels.

Harlin told YLE that the solution to the shortage of raw materials is to increase the value of the forest industry’s end products, and he is beginning to see efforts in that direction.