The conference started with presentations on outlooks on softwood markets in the EU, the US, Canada, China and Russia. It seems that after a promising start, the softwood market has taken a sharp downturn third year in a row. The main reason for the markets’ decline is the high inflation which triggered the increase in interest rates of central banks basically all over the developed world, suppressing consumer demand. An important element of this year was also the end of sawn softwood imports (and other wood products) from Russia and Belarus due to EU sanctions. While it did not cause shortage in European markets due also to declining demand, the full effects of this remain to be seen in the coming months.
The availability of raw materials remains another crucial factor for the softwood industry. Related to this, CEPF Policy Advisor, Hélène Koch, gave an overview on possible economic impacts of recent EU forest-related policies on the forest-based value chain. Impacts could be related to three main factors: area available for wood supply, management costs and harvesting, and product types (i.e. species and assortment types). This possible additional burden can also cause a lack of motivation among forest owners to manage their forests in the context of an uncertain future due to climate change, she stated. Ms. Koch reminded, however, that many of these policies are still being discussed and several key provisions not yet settled. Whatever the result, the locally-suited implementation of these policies at Member State level will be crucial.
More information can be found on the conference press release and on the website.
