Country consumes 39.4m tonnes of wood in 2019

A total of 39.4 million tonnes of wood were used in Finland in 2019, measured by wood dry-matter tied up in forest industry products, wood fuels, and waste.

The year before was a peak year in the consumption of wood, from which consumption of wood dry-matter decreased by less than 1%, according to the Natural Resources Institute Finland (Luke).

Of all wood dry-matter consumed, 57% were used as energy and 41% were tied up in forest industry products.

During the past 10 years, the proportion of wood dry-matter consumed as energy has increased slightly and, correspondingly, the proportion of wood dry-matter used in forest industry products has decreased.

Of all wood dry-matter consumed in Finland in 2019 (39.4 million tons), 18% were tied up in paper and paperboard.

During the 2000s, the proportion of paper has decreased clearly, while that of paperboard has increased slightly. Sawn wood accounted for 12%, wood pulp 10% and wood-based panels 2%.

A total of 27% of the wood dry-matter consumed in Finland in 2019 were tied up in concentrated liquors (mostly black liquor) produced within the wood pulp industry.

This proportion has remained relatively stable during the 2000s. Black liquor is used in energy generation at heat and power plants. In addition, solid wood fuels are consumed in energy production by heat and power plants, as well as small-scale housing. Their respective proportions were 22% and 8% of wood dry-matter consumed in Finland.

In 2019, a total of 15.2 million tonnes of forest industry products and 0.8 million tonnes of round wood were exported from Finland, measured by wood dry-matter. In exports, 11.0 million tonnes of wood matter were tied up in pulp and paper industry products and 4.2 million tonnes in wood industry products.

Imports of wood dry-matter are lower than their exports, and their focus point is different. A total of 5.1 million tonnes of round wood and wood residues and 1.2 million tonnes of forest industry products were imported into Finland, measured by wood dry-matter.