A significant turn occurred in the forest industry

In 2025, more wood was used in Finland than in the previous year. It turns out Natural Resources Center (Luke) of published preliminary information.

79 million solid cubic meters of raw wood were used in Finland last year. Use increased by three percent from the previous year.

Most of the wood ended up being used by the forest industry. The forest industry used 66 million cubic meters of raw wood, six percent more than the previous year.

Pulp mills and sawmills in particular increased their production last year, says the chief actuary Markus Toikka Read on.

“At the same time, the increase in the supply of by-product wood from the forest industry and an exceptionally warm year reduced the direct energy use of raw wood,” says Toikka in the press release.

Pulp and sawdust are the most important applications

The most raw wood was used in the pulp industry, a good 30 million cubic meters. The number increased by five percent from the previous year.

Sawmill industry’s wood consumption increased by seven percent to just over 27 million cubic meters.

Finnish factories rely even more strongly on domestic wood.

The forest industry consumed almost 63 million cubic meters of domestic log and fiber wood and a good three million cubic meters of imported wood.

The use of domestic raw wood increased by six percent, but the use of imported wood decreased by nine percent.

Back in the early 2000s, up to a quarter of the wood used by factories could come from abroad, but now the share of imported wood is only five percent.

There was a change in energy use

Although factories used more wood, the burning of wood cut directly from the forest for energy decreased mainly for two reasons.

First of all, the year 2025 was exceptionally warm, so homes and buildings needed to be heated less.

Second, the bustling activity of the factories produced a lot of surplus, such as sawdust and bark, which could be burned for energy instead of whole trees.

Many actors in the forest sector have criticized the burning of wood for energy purposes and announced the importance of producing products with a higher processing value.

The waste juices from the forest industry are very important by-products of the forest industry that can be used in energy production.

Energy is produced from industrial residues, such as bark, sawdust, branches left in the forest and liquids produced in pulp production.

These forest industry by-products and other wood fuels cover more than a quarter of the energy consumption in Finland.