Finnish timber sales, meanwhile, reached a record low in 2009, according to the Finnish Forest Industries Federation, Helsinki, Finland. Only in 1991 have purchase volumes from private forests been any lower, the Federation noted. Procurements from private forests totaled 16.4 million cubic meters, which is a little more than half of the volume attained in the previous year. The year's total purchases equaled about 21 million cubic meters of felled timber.

Stumpage prices of softwood logs fell an average of 20% in 2009, while birch log stumpage prices were down 27%, and pulpwood prices decreased by 16% - 20%. In December, pine and spruce logs fetched an average of EUR 48 per cubic meter. The price of birch logs was around EUR 35 per cubic meter. The average stumpage price of pine and birch pulpwood was EUR 14 per cubic meter, while spruce pulpwood cost EUR 18 per cubic meter.

The tax break available for timber sales revenue was halved from 50% to 25% at the turn of the year, resulting in a final dash by sellers wanting to avail of the full break. The December purchase volume reached 6.1 million cubic meters, i.e. over a third of the total annual amount. Sawmills suffered from short supply of logs during 2009.

The record-high timber prices, which occurred in 2007 during an entirely different overall economic situation, still affected price expectations. December's livelier sales activity led to a slight improvement in this situation, although annual purchase volumes of pine and spruce logs were down 29% from the level achieved in 2008, while pulpwood purchases reduced by about half. Roundwood imports from Russia fell by three-quarters in 2009, leading to an increase in demand for domestic timber.

TAPPI
http://www.tappi.org/