Pine to replace spruce in Europe as supply tightens

Concerns over tightening European spruce resources dominated discussions at last week’s Wood from Finland sawmill industry conference in Helsinki, where industry leaders also highlighted the increasingly difficult outlook for Russian sawmilling. Speaking at the event, Tommi Sneck, chairman of the European Sawmill Industry Association, warned that spruce availability is already declining as insect-damaged timber volumes in Central Europe diminish. “There is already a shortage of spruce as the number of salvage wood volumes in Central Europe decreases. Logging opportunities there and in Sweden are no longer what they used to be,” Sneck said. In more ...