Forest industries use less lumber in 2020

The volume of roundwood consumed by the Finnish forest industries continued to decrease in 2020, according to the Natural Resources Institute Finland (Luke).

It’s total consumption decreased by six per cent year on year to 67 million cubic metres. The volume of domestic roundwood processed was seven per cent lower than that in the previous year, while the volume of imported roundwood remained unchanged.

One half of all roundwood was used by the chemical pulp industry.

“2020 was an exceptional year in the forest industries. Large-scale strikes in January-March reduced production in all branches. Challenges in the competitiveness of the forest industries, structural changes in the pulp and paper industries, and the coronavirus pandemic,too, had an impact on the manufacturing of forest industry products and, therefore, on the consumption of different wood assortments,” said Luke Senior Statistician Tuomas Niinistö.

In 2020, the forest industries processed a total of 67 million cubic metres of roundwood, down by six per cent from the year before. The consumption of roundwood was at its highest in 2006, when it amounted to 76 million cubic metres.

The forest industries consumed 57.3 million cubic metres of domestic roundwood, down by seven per cent from the volume consumed in 2019. Apart from imported chips and sawdust, the volume of all assortments declined. The total consumption of imported roundwood, however, remained at the previous year’s level at 9.7 million cubic metres.

In 2020, a total of 4.4 million cubic metres of chips were imported into Finland, of which the forest industries consumed 2.6 million cubic metres. In addition, 0.2 million cubic metres of imported sawdust were consumed.

“Based on the difference between the total volume of imported chips and the volume of imported chips used for manufacturing forest industry products, 1.8 million cubic metres of imported chips were consumed for energy generation. This was 13 per cent higher than that in 2019,” said Niinistö.

Nearly a half of all roundwood, 32.5 million cubic metres, was consumed

by the chemical pulp industry, showing an eight per cent decline from that in 2019.

“The volume of roundwood consumed in the mechanical pulp industry decreased by seven per cent to six million cubic metres. Relatively, the consumption of roundwood decreased the most in the plywood and veneer industries, by 10 per cent,” added Niinistö.