Global Solid Wood Consumption Continues to Rise

According to SCA Timber, Sweden, global consumption of solid-wood products continues to rise, with a long-range forecast of around 2% – 3% annual growth during the next five years. "The markets of Europe are increasing their consumption in most cases, with Scandinavia and the U.K. topping the table. Housebuilding in wood is rising steadily in the U.S. and the price of solid-wood products is following suit. North Africa, the Middle East, and China are, and will remain, major consumers of solid-wood products. The Japanese solid-wood market has seen a negative trend over the past two quarters, but is set to stabilize at a good level in the near future," said Anders Ante Andersson, marketing director, SCA Timber. 

In the short term, comparing this year with 2013, the production of solid-wood products is also rising in Europe, and in Sweden production is being kept at full pace to deal with all of the "wind-thrown" logs. This is temporarily having a slight negative impact on the balance between supply and demand, but the long-term outlook is for a good balance and stability, SCA Timber reports.

In general terms, the price trend is expected to slow during the 4Q, with some ranges falling back somewhat and others remaining stable. The weakening of the Swedish krona may also lead to certain pressure on prices in local currencies. Any weakening of the trend should, however, be seen as relatively temporary, considering the outlook for the coming years, where the long-term trend continues to be extremely positive for northern Swedish solid-wood products.