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Fastmarkets is pleased to publish the European sawn timber price assessments and market story. The price table below is in pilot phase and we are continuing to recruit price contributors. To find out more about how to get free access to the new European sawn timber prices, please contact Tuomo Neuvonen at tuomo.neuvonen@fastmarkets.com.
European sawn timber markets closed 2025 in a holding pattern, with Nordic exporters navigating persistent structural headwinds amid minimal price movement and cautious buyer sentiment. The December assessment period captured a market characterized by stability rather than recovery. Prices were largely flat across Germany, France, the Benelux region and the United Kingdom, reflecting subdued construction demand, elevated sawlog costs in key producing regions and strategic inventory management by producers and buyers. Even as some specialized sectors showed tentative signs of firming, particularly in engineered wood applications, the broader Nordic export market entered 2026 facing continued pressure from weak end-user activity, ongoing industrial restructuring and lingering macroeconomic uncertainty across the continent.
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Germany remained the largest single market for Nordic spruce, with prices showing marginal movement through the final months of 2025. Spruce sawfalling in the standard 44-50×150mm dimension held steady at €305-325 ($354-377) per cubic meter in December, representing a modest 0.79% decline from November’s midpoint. The 50×100mm dimension demonstrated slightly more resilience, firming by 0.81% to €305-320 per cubic meter as buyers secured material for early 2026 requirements.
Market sources said that while demand for standard construction grades remained muted, specialized applications — particularly material destined for konstruktionsvollholz (KVH) finger-jointed components and glulam lamellas — experienced stronger inquiry levels and price gains of €5-10 per cubic meter in certain specifications, including 63×165-185mm ranges for KVH and 45×110-230mm for lamella production. With local supplies of sawn timber constrained by a shortage of sawlogs, increased demand could boost opportunities for Nordic exporters.
In France, pricing patterns reflected similar dynamics. The versatile 44-50×150mm spruce sawfalling dimension climbed modestly by 0.81% to €290-330 per cubic meter, while the 63×150mm specification posted a more pronounced 1.64% increase to reach the same upper range. The 50×100mm category remained unchanged at €290-325 per cubic meter. French buyers demonstrated selective purchasing behavior, focusing on specific tallies rather than broad inventory replenishment.
Benelux markets exhibited exceptional price stability through the assessment period. Spruce sawfalling in both 47×150mm and 50×100mm dimensions held firmly at €305-320 per cubic meter with zero month-on-month variation. Planed construction timber in the 50×75mm specification similarly remained anchored at €360-380 per cubic meter. This stability reflected balanced supply-demand fundamentals in a region where construction activity, while subdued, maintained steadier footing than in some Central European markets.
The United Kingdom showed similar price trends. Standard spruce sawfalling dimensions — both 44-50×150mm and 50×100mm — held at €295-315 per cubic meter throughout November and December. Among pine specifications, US-grade 50×150mm edged slightly lower by 0.79% to €305-320 per cubic meter, while V-grade 38×150mm declined by 1.69% to €280-300 per cubic meter.
The underlying market environment remained challenging through year-end. Construction activity across Europe continued to lag historical norms, constrained by elevated financing costs, weakened consumer confidence and sluggish commercial building pipelines. Building permit data across the continent remained well below 2021 peaks, with Germany and France experiencing particularly subdued residential construction starts.
Nordic producers characterized the period as one of cautious optimism tempered by persistent headwinds. Industry sentiment at autumn conferences and year-end trading sessions suggested that while the catastrophic demand collapse of 2022-2023 had stabilized, meaningful recovery remained elusive. Buyers adopted conservative inventory strategies, purchasing only to cover near-term requirements rather than building speculative positions. Some market participants said January activity started slower than anticipated, with importers appearing to have learned from 2025’s spring buying surge that left some holders overextended when summer demand failed to materialize.
Finnish producers appeared to hold a comparative advantage entering 2026, primarily due to more favorable sawlog supply conditions and pricing relative to Swedish and Central European competitors. Market sources indicated that spruce sawlog availability and costs in Finland remained relatively stable, while Swedish and Baltic producers faced tighter log markets and higher procurement costs. This divergence provided Finnish mills with improved margin opportunities, though overall profitability across the Nordic region remained under pressure.
A significant supply-side shock materialized in late December 2025 when Storm Johannes swept across the Nordics, felling an estimated 10 million cubic meters of timber in Sweden. Initial assessments in Finland pointed to approximately 1 million cubic meters of damage, though subsequent reports from affected forest owners suggested this figure might overstate actual losses.
The storm’s impact appeared concentrated in redwood (pine) species rather than spruce, creating potential market distortions across Nordic sawlog procurement channels. If salvage operations proceed as expected, the sudden influx of felled pine sawlogs could pressure pine sawn timber markets already burdened with elevated mill inventories and lackluster demand. Market observers said that depending on log quality, storm-damaged material could flow either to sawmills (for higher-grade logs) or to pulping (for lower-grade fiber).
A secondary effect could emerge in spruce markets. If sawmills shift production capacity toward processing salvaged pine logs, demand for spruce sawlogs could intensify in a market already experiencing relative shortages of that species. This supply reallocation dynamic added another layer of uncertainty to first-quarter procurement strategies across the Nordic region.
The Nordic timber sector’s ongoing restructuring intensified through late 2025 and into 2026. Stora Enso’s strategic review of seven sawmills and three cross-laminated timber (CLT) facilities across Austria, the Czech Republic, Poland and Lithuania — representing roughly 3 million cubic meters of capacity and half of its wood-products division sales — signaled a decisive pivot toward renewable packaging materials. None of Stora Enso’s Nordic sawmills were included in the review, suggesting the company intends to concentrate wood products operations around core Nordic assets with closer integration to packaging and pulp operations.
UPM completed its effective exit from direct sawmilling through a partnership with Versowood that transferred operational responsibility for the Korkeakoski facility. The arrangement secured reciprocal wood-flow benefits while reducing UPM’s exposure to volatile sawn timber markets. Versowood, following the acquisition, emerged as Finland’s largest sawmill operator with annual production capacity of 1.8-1.9 million cubic meters, positioning it among Europe’s top producers.
Elsewhere in the Nordics, operational adjustments proliferated. Södra reduced output at its Värö and Mönsterås mills by approximately 20% in the fourth quarter, while Setra explored potential divestment of its Malå facility despite ongoing capacity upgrades. Bergkvist Siljan announced the March 2026 closure of its 115,000-cubic meter Mora sawmill, citing doubled wood costs over five years. These moves reflected sector-wide efforts to align production with subdued demand while preserving financial flexibility.
North American softwood sawn timber markets entered 2026 against a backdrop of profound structural challenges and unprecedented trade policy pressures. The most significant development remained the escalation of combined countervailing and anti-dumping duties on Canadian lumber to 45.6%, representing what industry observers characterized as an existential burden for producers historically dependent on US markets for over 90% of export volumes. Canadian production declined to 14.9 billion board feet through the third quarter of 2025, down by 3.9% from the prior-year pace, as the industry experienced its most severe distress period since the 2008 financial crisis.
Since 2022, 22 sawmills closed permanently and more than 50 curtailed operations, directly affecting over 5,600 workers. December 2025 intensified this trend, with Conifex implementing a four-week curtailment at its Mackenzie facility, Domtar announcing permanent closure of its Crofton pulp operations and Interfor reducing North American production by approximately 145 million board feet between September and December — representing roughly 12% of normal operating capacity.
Demand fundamentals remained weak across both countries despite widespread supply-side contractions. Canadian housing starts hit 30-year lows through 2025, with the Greater Toronto Area experiencing declines exceeding one-third and condo starts plummeting more than 50% from recent peaks. In the United States, housing starts were projected to gain only 1.6% in 2026 following an estimated 1.4% decline in 2025, as affordability headwinds and elevated mortgage rates continued to constrain construction activity.
Canadian exports to the US fell by 9% through the third quarter to 8.2 billion board feet, with August and September shipments plunging to the lowest monthly totals since 2013. Canadian producers’ attempts to cultivate alternative offshore markets met limited success, with exports to overseas destinations declining by 12% to 984 million board feet as global economic uncertainty and intensified competition from European and Russian suppliers undermined pricing leverage.
Lean field inventories and widespread mill curtailments suggested North American markets remained underserved heading into the 2026 spring building season, though meaningful demand recovery appeared unlikely without substantial improvement in housing affordability and construction financing conditions.
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