The wood trade offer that Eino Leinonen received in his inbox seemed interesting at first glance. The offer was for a 22-hectare pine stand, the first thinning of which Leinonen had discussed with forest specialist Väinö Pääkkölä.
The wood trade offer was drawn up using pricing based on stem volume, Metsä Group’s new trade method. In it, the offer is made for whole trunks instead of pulpwood and log wood, as has been traditionally the case. Forest owners receive the same cubic price for the entire trunk, determined by the average stem volume of the trees removed.
“I hadn’t read about the stem volume-based pricing method, but as soon as I saw the offer, I was ready to give it a try,” Leinonen says.
According to Leinonen, the offer was straightforward. It included information about the average stem volume estimated by Pääkkölä, as well as a matrix showing Leinonen how the price quoted would change if the actual average stem volume deviated from the estimate.
Leinonen’s forest estate is in Alakylä, in the municipality of Kittilä, on the western shores of the Ounasjoki river. The site slated for first thinning had been ploughed in the early 1990s and then planted with pine. Lehtinen had a third party plant the more than 20 hectares, but he did the clearing himself.
During our interview, at the beginning of October, Leinonen had just received a message on his phone informing him that harvesting would begin in the next few weeks.
“I will be informed the day before harvesting what time the machines arrive.”
This information is shared because some forest owners want to be on site to follow the progress of harvesting. Leinonen hasn’t made a habit of supervising the work.
“There’ll be two operators in the felling, and I’ve known both for decades. I’m sure they know what they’re doing.”
Leinonen carries out wood trade on average every two years. He considers pricing based on stem volume a transparent method that is excellent for first thinning. There is knottiness and sweep in Leinonen’s pine stand, but this time, the forest owner is not concerned about their impact on the percentage of log wood.
“I encourage anyone with first thinning sites in their forest to open-mindedly consider doing trade using pricing based on stem volume.”
The object in the photo is not the first thinning site mentioned in the text.
This text was published in Metsä Group’s Viesti 4/2023.
Text Maria Latokartano
Photo Pauli Hänninen