The growth in demand for sawn timber has been hindered by the longer-than-normal construction downturn in Europe. This is mainly due to the uncertainty of the economic outlook and geopolitics. At the same time, Europe has seen a significant decline in softwood sawn timber production, as large-scale logging caused by insect pests over several years has led to a decrease in felling volumes. It does not seem likely that softwood felling volumes similar to those in the past will return to the European market in the coming years. At the same time, import sanctions have been imposed on Russian sawn timber due to the war in Ukraine. Due to the above-mentioned factors, the demand and supply of sawn timber have been somewhat surprisingly balanced and the price of sawn timber has remained stable. The positive price development has particularly affected spruce sawn timber, while the price development of pine sawn timber has been clearly weaker than spruce due to its markets outside Europe.
The economic situation in the rest of the Finnish forest industry has been challenging in recent months. In particular, the demand and price of pulp and board have decreased, and the industry has seen, and will continue to see, significant production cuts. This has contributed to an oversupply of side streams from sawmilling production and led, among other things, to a decrease in the delivery prices of saw chips and pulpwood. At the same time, the long-standing demand for biomass for energy production has declined due to mild weather and at times very low electricity prices. The lower sales value of side streams than before will eat into the profitability of the sawmilling industry in the future.
Sawmill production grew by approximately 7% in 2025. In early 2026, production has been declining due to exceptionally cold weather. This has reduced sawn timber inventories to a significantly low level. The cold weather has helped to improve, at least temporarily, the weak demand for by-products for energy production. The level of sawn timber inventories has most often anticipated price changes. At the beginning of the financial year, it would appear that sawn timber prices will remain strong and that 2026 would be at least a reasonable year for the sawmill industry. Of course, the war in Iran that has just begun and its possible prolongation will increase economic uncertainty, it will also increase the costs of export industries and inflationary pressures in Europe in general.
The Westas Group’s sawn timber production in the 2025 financial year was 455,000 m3. There were approximately 35 export countries and the export share was approximately 85%. The turnover was 186 million euros and the EBT was 4.4% of the turnover. The Group employs approximately 175 people directly in Southwest Finland and indirectly same number through contracting relationships.
24th March 2026
Pekka Kopra, managing director