Softwood fiber costs were generally higher worldwide in the 2Q/21 than in the previous quarter despite an increase in the supply of residuals from sawmills in Europe and North America. Practically all regions covered by the WRQ experienced q-o-q prices increases in the range of 1-5%.

The softwood timber harvest in Germany is likely to reach almost 50 million m³ in 2020, about ten million m³ more than a typical year before the spruce bark beetle-infestation in 2018. In addition, Germany has harvested 6-7 million m³ of hardwood species annually for the past five years.

China
is the world’s largest importer of softwood and hardwood logs, and for
many decades, Russia has been a significant log supplier for them. This
relationship may change in 2022 if Russia implements their proposed ban
on exports of softwood logs and valuable hardwood logs.