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Fastmarkets is pleased to publish the following 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 and Cat Vitale at tuomo.neuvonen@fastmarkets.com and cat.vitale@fastmarkets.com.
March did not change the European sawn timber market much from the beginning of the year, owing to most Nordic suppliers concluding negotiations on a quarterly basis. The sentiment remained broadly cautious, as March largely reinforced the holding pattern established earlier in the year.
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While some increases were seen in the first quarter, one source noted that expectations for the rest of the year began to dwindle. “Everyone was hoping that the winter would be better than the year before,” one source said, “but then during the quarter, the thinking changed and expectations for springtime came down.”
Prices across most monitored grades were mostly steady. During the first quarter, demand was reportedly normal across parts of continental Europe, but in the UK the situation was weaker.
Elevated sawlog costs, weather‑affected building activity in the Nordics and lingering geopolitical uncertainty continued to weigh on confidence and kept buyer behavior conservative and price formation challenging. Production curtailments earlier and low customer inventories helped limit downside risk.
Price movements in March remained selective rather than broad‑based. In Germany, spruce sawfalling 63×150 mm and 50×100 mm midpoints both firmed by 0.79% month on month, reflecting a slightly stronger higher end for both. French assessments remained unchanged. In Benelux, spruce 47×150 mm midpoint edged higher by 0.80%, driven by an improvement at the top of the range. In the UK, spruce sawfalling 44-50×150 mm midpoint posted a 2.50% gain, while US pine 50×150 mm midpoint slipped 0.78%, marking the only decline among assessed grades. Generally, prices held steady in March, reinforcing a picture of generally stable market at the end of the quarter, with only isolated adjustments rather than a clear directional trend.
Early in April, storm Dave hit southern Sweden, felling trees mostly in Götaland. According to an estimate by the forest company Södra operating in that region, about 1 million cubic meters of forest has been damaged. The worst-hit areas are in Västra Götaland County and Jönköping County.
The estimate states that the majority of the felled trees, 61%, were spruce, with the remainder divided between pine (35%) and hardwood (4%). The large amount of felled spruce trees creates a risk for bark beetle infestations which could be limited by timely collection of the trees.
The damages are much more limited compared with the storm Johannes/Hannes which hit central Sweden and Finnish west coast at the end of last year, with estimated damages of 8 million-10 million cubic meters in Sweden and 3.5 million cubic meters in Finland. The difference is that this earlier storm had more impact on pine forests, whereas Dave felled more spruce.
Salvaged trees are often harder and slower to collect, and usually the wood material is more likely to be damaged both physically and by moisture and fungi, making the final sawn products lower in quality than usual sawlogs. Some market sources said the stormfelled trees by the Storm Hannes in Finland are utilized as sawn timber only in limited volumes.
One European supplier told Fastmarkets that “there will be bad timber on the market by Q3 due to the storm, which will disrupt prices.”
After a decline in softwood sawlog prices in Finland since July 2025, those have logged increases again in February and March, according to statistics by Natural Resources Institute Finland (Luke). While the latest March price for standing sales for pine logs at €74.67 ($87.58) per cubic meter is still 11% below and for spruce logs at €80.13 per cubic meter is about 7% below the peak in June 2025, they have increased from their latest low in January 2026 by 2% for pine and 4% for spruce.
The weekly price statistics, also by Luke, show similar development, with increases logged since week 7 in mid-February. Both pine and spruce sawlog prices show an increase of 5% for week 17 since the mid-February low.
The prices are currently over 20% above the price level in 2022 before the Russian invasion of Ukraine started, impacting the Finnish wood markets significantly by ceasing all Russian wood imports, which made up the majority of the imports. The increase in Finnish sawlog prices is expected to continue, according to some market sources.
While most sources pointed to a rise in prices in the second quarter, driven by optimism of seasonal demand and rising log prices, a consensus stands that sustained price levels in the UK will require a reduction in landed stock levels.
One frequently cited structural issue is the role of landed stockists, importers holding large inventories in the UK, who have been reported at distorting pricing dynamics and becoming “increasingly disruptive.” Several sources pointed to a need for market corrections among stockists before pricing can normalize. It was noted that even producers with firm pricing strategies are being forced to follow these dynamics too.
While a lack of demand continues to pressure the market, volatility and fragmented prices are likely defining features of the UK sawn timber market currently. Demand from the construction sector remains subdued, with housebuilding activity still well below the levels needed to drive meaningful timber consumption growth. Adding to this, the cost of living pressures, planning constraints and weak consumer confidence continue to act as a brake.
The grade picture itself is also shifting, with sources noting that C24 is consolidating its position as the default specification grade in the UK construction market, despite a UK-based campaign pushing for the use of domestically grown timber. Sources said that this is driven by the habits of architects who specify C24 as a reflex. A second source suggested that C16 has largely “lost the war.”
The UK government’s Timber in Construction Roadmap acknowledged that C24’s dominance has led to widespread overspecification in construction projects. Meanwhile, use of C16 has fallen by around 30% over the past seven years, a decline the campaign is now directly trying to reverse.
However, the situation is not clear cut, as imports account for 80% of wood consumed in the UK, making the grade structurally exposed to shifts in freight costs and oversea supply dynamics.
It became clear from market sources that intentions to raise prices in the second quarter remain, with one supplier summing up the situation by saying “it was obvious everyone needed price increases due to log costs, energy and spruce availability.” This was also confirmed on the buyer side, with one source stating that Nordic sawn timber prices were expected to rise in the second quarter.
This was especially the case as rising log costs in the Nordics “showed no clear signs of stabilizing,” another source said.
In Germany, the price gap between the two species in sawn timber is reported around €30 per cubic meter, while at the log level the differential is far narrower, a margin squeeze that is becoming increasingly difficult for producers to absorb.
Fuel surcharges and freight cost increases are adding further upstream pressure, with some European suppliers issuing formal surcharge notices to customers and others absorbing these costs.
Seasonal demand, particularly from the outdoor construction and fencing segment, is expected to provide some support in the coming months, with sources noting early signs of improved activity following a “wet and cold Q1.”
For now, the market is navigating a difficult balance. Producers stated a need for price increases to remain viable, buyers are resisting where they can, and the landed stock overhang continues to cap any meaningful recovery.
The spring season will be a “critical test” of whether optimism can translate into sustained pricing power or whether the structural issues weighing on the timber market prove more durable than the seasonal uplift, another source said.
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