However, there have been clear signs in recent weeks that the volume of the wood market is returning to normal. Although the market for forest industry products remains challenging, we are purchasing wood at a good rate to meet the industry’s needs. There is demand for all types of felling sites, particularly birch logs and FSC®-certified wood, whose importance is constantly growing in line with our customers’ requirements.
We are offering an excellent campaign benefit for owner-members until mid-October. You will get an unlimited price guarantee for pulpwood for one year, which may retroactively increase the price of your pulpwood. For the duration of the campaign, we will also pay an additional one-euro bonus on top of the current bonus for both log wood and pulpwood. Now is a great time to sell wood! With our owner-members, we foster sustainable forest growth, build a strong future for the entire Finnish forest sector, and create wellbeing for Finnish society.
At Metsä Group, we are firm believers in strong long-term demand for northern wood. At the same time, we are aware that competitiveness stems from continuous renewal. The key strategic priorities for our Wood Supply and Forest Services include improving cost-efficiency, strengthening the supply of FSC-certified wood, growing our forest services business, adapting to climate change, and utilising data and artificial intelligence in all our key processes.
Our aim is to offer forest owners even better services and a more convenient way of doing business with us. A good example of this is the new AI-based model for planning and pricing young stand management work. It enables us to offer a fixed price as early as the quotation stage, which makes the service more transparent and predictable for forest owners than before.
We have started collaborating with the Finnish AI and quantum technology company Qutwo and aim to deepen our use of artificial intelligence. Our goal is to increase the value derived from wood raw material throughout the value chain. We are also strengthening regenerative forestry practices. We continue to view sustainability as a key competitive factor that creates added value for both forest owners and our customers.
I am extremely pleased that our reputation and the support we enjoy from stakeholders such as forest owners were again the best in the industry this year according to a survey conducted by Reputation and Trust Analytics in the early summer. Customer feedback from forest owners regarding wood sales and forest management work reached a new record high. Customer feedback for harvesting was also at an almost record level. These are excellent examples of how well our collaboration is working. They also show that the development of our operations is on the right track.
Thank you for your cooperation, and allow me to wish everyone an active autumn!
Logo license of Metsäliitto Cooperative's FSC group certification: FSC-C111942