After the record years for the Swedish sawmill industry, there is now a slowdown in the market reported. Uncertainty and waiting seem to characterize the industry and a reduction in the record-high lumber prices may now be on the way.
”If you go back to the pandemic, it was possible to sell everything – at any time, in any case. But that is not the case now,” says sawmill manager Lars Grundqvist at Hissmofors sawmill.
”Now we are back to a normal situation,” he says. The question is what will happen next? The pandemic gave the Swedish sawmill industry a boost.
The Hissmofors sawmill in Krokom, Sweden it is running at full speed right now, even though the market is slower than before. It was during the pandemic that Hissmofors sawmill got a real boost.
When many others shut down, operations continued there.
Profit after net financial items increased from SEK 110 million (EUR 10 million) in 2019 to just over one billion (EUR 93 million) in 2021 for the Swedish Norra Skog Group, which includes the sawmill in Hissmofors.
Lower lumber prices are expected
The Swedish industry organizations Skogsindustrierna and Svenskt Trä state that the Swedish sawmill industry broke production records in 2021. But right now, several different factors are interacting to slow down growth in the industry, even though demand for wood products remains high, they say. However, a price reduction on lumber can be expected.
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