Showing the way forward, Metsä Group will introduce a data-analytics-based operating model for wood trade, in which the bearing capacity of soil and the prevailing weather conditions determine the harvesting time for felling sites. From 1 November 2025, the bearing capacity of soil will also be used as a wood trade pricing factor in all stumpage sales concluded with Metsä Group. As a pricing factor, bearing capacity will replace the traditionally used harvestability, which is linked to seasons – harvestable in summer, winter or at all times.
"To date, harvesting has been carried out based on a seasonally bound harvesting time without paying attention to the optimal time of individual felling sites. We’re now aiming for even better customer experience and harvesting results in our owner-members’ forests by combining extensive datasets and our solid harvesting competence in a new way,” says Juho Rantala, SVP, Wood Trade and Forest Services at Metsä Group.
In the new operating model, Metsä Group uses data about the soil type, site type, moisture and trees provided by operators such as the National Land Survey of Finland, the Geological Survey of Finland and Natural Resources Institute Finland to allocate felling sites and their routes to three different categories of bearing capacity (good, normal or limited bearing capacity). By combining the defined bearing capacity category and up-to-date weather information, Metsä Group will estimate the optimal harvesting time for each felling site. By separate agreement, the harvesting of a felling site can be limited to winter conditions.
“Climate change is already challenging our operating models in Finland, as abnormal weather conditions affect and complicate harvesting. As has been seen recently – and increasingly so due to global warming – the lack of long frost seasons can lead to harvesting conditions being weaker in the winter than in dry periods in the summer. Analytics enable more accurate planning, which will help us optimise harvesting more evenly around the year and increase the number of felling sites harvested when the ground is unfrozen. We can also pay forest owners a better price for them than for sites harvested in winter conditions,” says Rantala, explaining the new operating model.
The bearing capacity of the felling site and the route between the site and the storage site is one of many factors affecting wood trade pricing. Other factors include the demand situation, tree species, tree volume and quality of wood, amount of wood harvested, location, and forest transport distances.