I am very pleased with the many records we broke in wood supply and forest services. We achieved our best result ever in occupational safety, customer experience and sales of forest management services. According to surveys, our reputation among forest owners is the best in the industry, and we are the most desired partner for wood sales among large operators. This gives us a good basis to further develop our operations with our owner-members.
Wood prices, especially for pulpwood, have continued to decline in Finland due to the very low profitability of industrial production. In the Baltics, there is over supply of pulpwood on the market, and the price level is below Finnish prices. Demand for pulpwood also weakened in Sweden in the second half of 2025, and the price level has fallen very rapidly in recent months.
Although the situation regarding profitability in the end product market is very challenging, all types of wood are still bought normally. We are most interested in FSC certified wood and spruce logs, especially if the felling sites are on ground with good bearing capacity.
The price of wood is still good in Finland if we take a long-term view. Now is a good time to sell wood and secure the returns from forest assets. This creates work and economic activity in Finland.
We are actively developing our services for our owner-members. The most recent example is the nature value map launched in the Metsäverkko service, which allows owner-members to view the parts of their own forests that are likely to have the highest nature values. At the beginning of the year, we announced that we would bring more accuracy, predictability and transparency to the planning and pricing of young stand management by introducing a new artificial intelligence application based on satellite imagery and spatial datasets.
During 2026, we will set up our own PEFC certification group to which our bonus members and contract customers can connect their forests. We want to keep things in our own hands. In our view, in the current regional system, not everyone is sufficiently committed to complying with the certification requirements.
In 2025, with our owner-members, we created a hundred new burnt environments in forests around Finland. These are very important actions for species that need burnt wood. Thank you for also taking on this task with such enthusiasm.
In terms of advocacy, possible felling restrictions for birds’ nesting period are currently the hottest topic. Forestry operators have long taken birdlife into account in forestry work. However, as a result of a decision by the EU Court of Justice, a legislative amendment process has been initiated in Finland. It is important that we can ensure a solution that is reasonable for both birdlife and our operating environment.
We could not have had a much better start for this year in terms of weather. The weather has been cold in the whole country in the early part of the year, which has meant excellent harvesting conditions for us. Let's all enjoy a good winter, ensure the vitality of forests with active management and keep the wheels of society turning.
Logo licence of Metsäliitto Cooperative’s FSC group certificate: FSC-C111942
Metsäliitto Cooperative's PEFC logo license: PEFC/02-31-03