Record logging volume in Finland

Record logging volume in Finland

78.2 million cubic metres of roundwood was felled in the forests of Finland in 2018, representing an increase of roughly eight percent from the previous year. Almost 90 percent of the wood was used by the Finnish forest industry companies and slightly over 10 percent by heat and energy producers.

The volume of industrial roundwood increased by nearly nine percent to 68.9 million cubic metres, with pulpwood accounting for 57 percent and logs 43 percent of the total volume. Small Finnish sawmills used an additional 300,000 cubic metres of roundwood, according to the Natural Resources Institute Finland (Luke).

The roundwood used as wood chips by heat and energy plants and as firewood by households amounted to almost nine million cubic metres last year.

Luke estimated in the second half of last year that the maximum sustainable felling potential of forests is 84 million cubic metres of roundwood per year during the ten-year period between 2015 and 2024. The estimate does not take into consideration all biodiversity objectives and carbon sink obligations.

“In 2018, roundwood removals accounted for up to 93 percent of the sustainable felling potential. Between 2015 and 2018, the corresponding average figure was 86 percent,” commented Jukka Torvelainen, a senior statistician at Luke.

The so-called roundwood drain – the volume of felled roundwood, roundwood left in forests in connection with felling and unused natural deadwood – rose by almost seven percent to 94 million cubic metres, reported Luke.

“Some 107 million cubic metres of new roundwood grow in our forests every year. This means that the total amount of roundwood increased by roughly 13 million cubic metres, regardless of the record-high drain,” told Torvelainen.

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