Friday, March 24, 2023
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Swedish forest industry reports a record export value of SEK 182 billion ($17.6 billion) in 2022, which is mainly due to high prices for pulp and paper. These segments accounted for an increase in the export value from SEK 109 billion ($10.6 billion) to SEK 136 billion ($13.2 billion), while the export value of wood products remained stable at the same high level as last year.
Despite declining delivery volumes, the export value of paper and pulp increased by 24% in 2022. However, in the first months of 2023, prices for most products have fallen, while deliveries remain low, according to Skogsindustriena.
“It is above all the high prices for paper and cardboard that have led to record figures for Swedish exports. It is gratifying that 2022 offered records, but at the same time nothing lasts forever. We are already seeing signs of a slowdown with a high cost situation at the same time as activity on the market is decreasing,” says Daniel Eriksson, market analyst paper and pulp, Forest Industries.
Lumber production was unusually high – surpassed only by the record year of 2021. 2022 saw a record shipment in March, with the highest shipment ever for a single month, and also finished with an unusually strong December. This despite the fact that the market in Europe towards the end of the year was negatively affected by inflation, high interest costs, high energy prices and geopolitical uncertainty. Instead, it is other global markets that have kept up the volumes on the wood product market. “The year offered many surprising results, but the strong deliveries for December were what surprised the most towards the end. When the demand from Egypt and China, which we had been waiting for all year, finally picked up, we saw that the stocks were reduced sharply at the Swedish sawmills. However, there are big question marks about the long-term development in these markets,” says Christian Nielsen, market analyst wood products, Skogsindustriern.
Tags: Swedish lumber, wood, wood and panel, woodworking, woodworking and manufacturing, woodworking and processing, woodworking event, woodworking industry, woodworking UK
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