The market outlook for sawn and further processed wood based goods is rather favourable. The key drivers are sustainability, energy and climate related policies and circular economy, which all work in favour of wood products compared with other options available.
Structural change
Wood products bind carbon and their production processes result in less emissions than for instance steel and concrete.
The Finnish forest sector is currently undergoing major structural changes. Several key figures weakened in the first decade of 2000s. These changes have been brought about by several structural alterations within the markets and competitive environment, as well as by the worldwide recession since the financial crisis.
One of the major changes has been the shift from Finland’s own currency Finnish Mark to the Euro. Whereas before there were frequent devaluations to assist the export trade in challenging times, today this is not possible being part of the Eurozone.
The future
However, despite those various challenges the forest sector is still pressing on, with new markets, end uses, products, services and business models.
The structural change in the forest industries also raises some more questions:
- Should one retain the emphasis on the raw material supply and infrastructure?
- Should there be a shift towards adding value to products and services provided by forest industries?
- Basically one should decide whether the emphasis is on supporting the supply of raw materials or the knowhow provided by the industry.
All policies supporting the forest industries should be directed in such a way that the impact can be greatest. This would lead towards wood products and energy production, which are rising into prominence.
The domestic market is important for the wood products, but global trends can support the growth of wider exports of processed goods. Furthermore, the energy sector is becoming an increasingly bigger user of wood.
New bio refineries and power plants, some of which have been built or planned alongside new pulp and paper mills can open new interesting opportunities for Finland.
Wood can be used for the production of textiles, substituting cotton and polyester. Wood can also be used for the production of renewable fuels for vehicles.
There are ongoing programmes to further develop new products in the chemical, food and medical industries, utilizing the properties and good availability of wood fibre.
The lines between various segments of the forest industry have been blurred and partly disappeared. The common denominator today is the bioeconomy.
One can expect most of the new investment for the 2000’s will be linked to biorefineries in turn linked to pulp and paper production, and also to heat and energy production. In the mechanical forest industry, the biggest steps are likely to happen with different types of glued Engineered Wood Producs.
