Forest industry in Finland
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Forest industry in Finland consists of mechanical (
timber Lumber is wood that has been processed into dimensional lumber, including beams and planks or boards, a stage in the process of wood production. Lumber is mainly used for construction framing, as well as finishing (floors, wall panels, wi ...
) and chemical (
paper Paper is a thin sheet material produced by mechanically or chemically processing cellulose fibres derived from wood, rags, grasses or other vegetable sources in water, draining the water through fine mesh leaving the fibre evenly distributed ...
and
pulp Pulp may refer to: * Pulp (fruit), the inner flesh of fruit Engineering * Dissolving pulp, highly purified cellulose used in fibre and film manufacture * Pulp (paper), the fibrous material used to make paper * Molded pulp, a packaging material ...
) forest industry.
Finland Finland ( fi, Suomi ; sv, Finland ), officially the Republic of Finland (; ), is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It shares land borders with Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of B ...
is one of the world's largest producer of pulp, paper and cardboard and one of Europe's largest producers of sawn timber. The forest industry directly and indirectly employs approximately 160,000 people in Finland. The industry's multiplier effects extend broadly into surrounding society.
Log driving Log driving is a means of moving logs (sawn tree trunks) from a forest to sawmills and pulp mills downstream using the current of a river. It was the main transportation method of the early logging industry in Europe and North America. Histor ...
had begun by the 17th century in Finland (''tukinuitto'') with long rivers such as
Oulujoki Oulujoki is a river in Oulu province, Finland. Its name in Finnish means literally "Oulu River" ( sv, Ule älv), originally in old Northern Ostrobothnian dialect literally "Flood River". Its origin is Oulujärvi and its watershed area covers a ...
,
Iijoki Iijoki is a river of Finland in the region of Northern Ostrobothnia. The river has many tributaries.Facta (encyclopedia) part 6, page 390, ''finnish'' It flows for into the Gulf of Bothnia. Some of its main tributaries are Siuruanjoki and Livo ...
and
Kemijoki Kemijoki ( sv, Kemi älv, se, Giemajohka), with its length, is the longest river in Finland. It runs through Kemijärvi and Rovaniemi before reaching the Gulf of Bothnia at Kemi. Facta 2001, part 8, ''finnish'' At Rovaniemi the Ounasjoki river ...
being used. The total length of timber-floating routes in Finland was 40,000 km. Given the economic importance of the activity, the Finnish water act states that "unless otherwise provided by law, everyone has the right, without inflicting unnecessary damage, harm or disturbance, to… float timber in the water body…". A log driver competitions is still organised in Finland annually - the Tukkilaiskisat. In 2014 the value of production of forest industry in Finland, including furniture industry, was 20.7 billion euros. This was 18% of all
industrial production Industrial production is a measure of output of the industrial sector of the economy. The industrial sector includes manufacturing, mining, and utilities. Although these sectors contribute only a small portion of gross domestic product (GDP), the ...
. Forest industry employed 15% of industrial workers in Finland. The forest industry is the main source of income for many regions in Finland. It accounts for approximately 20 per cent of all Finnish exports. Chemical forest industry (also known as paper and pulp industry) produces paper, cardboard and pulp. Finland has 25 paper mills, 14 cardboard mills and 15 pulp mills. In 2014 they employed 22 000 people. Mechanical forest industry produces wooden items mechanically:
sawing A saw is a tool consisting of a tough blade, wire, or chain with a hard toothed edge. It is used to cut through material, very often wood, though sometimes metal or stone. The cut is made by placing the toothed edge against the material and mov ...
,
turning Turning is a machining process in which a cutting tool, typically a non-rotary tool bit, describes a helix toolpath by moving more or less linearly while the workpiece rotates. Usually the term "turning" is reserved for the generation of ...
and glueing. Sawmills are the largest employer of the sector. Sawmills and board production are highly automatised, but manual skills are still needed in carpentry. Mechanical forest industry employs 26 000 people in Finland. In addition 9000 have a job in furniture production. There are also about 130 industrial sawmills as well as other companies in the wood products industry. The largest companies are
Stora Enso Stora Enso Oyj (from sv, Stora and fi, Enso ) is a manufacturer of pulp, paper and other forest products, headquartered in Helsinki, Finland. The majority of sales takes place in Europe, but there are also significant operations in Asia and S ...
,
UPM-Kymmene UPM-Kymmene Oyj is a Finnish forest industry company. UPM-Kymmene was formed by the merger of Kymmene Corporation with Repola Oy and its subsidiary United Paper Mills Ltd in 1996. UPM consists of six business areas: UPM Fibres, UPM Energy, UPM ...
and
Metsä Board Metsä Board Oyj, previously known as M-real Corporation, is a leading European producer of premium fresh fibre paperboards including folding boxboards, food service boards and white kraftliners. It was originally established by G.A. Serlachius, a ...
. In 2005-2015 they had to jettison almost half of their employees as the paper production was declining. The companies search new growth in packaging materials and wood-based chemicals.


References

{{Authority control Forestry in Finland Industry in Finland