As the online platform NTT and Swedish local media report, both Södra and Vida Wood are planning to stop cutting in all of their sawmills. Together, the two companies operate 19 sawmills with a cumulative production output of nearly 4.5 million m³ of softwood lumber per year. The reason for this step is the insufficient supply of log wood, which is said to be the result of an unfavorable combination of high log prices, reduced availability of log wood, and poor weather conditions for harvesting. For your information: In the past four years, the log price has more than doubled in Sweden (see Swedish log price up by 101% since 2020). According to the Swedish Forest Agency, the average price for log wood, delivered to forest roads, is already around €100/m³.
In this context, the ownership structure of the two companies is interesting. While the Canadian group Canfor holds almost 80% of the shares in Vida Wood, Södra’s is owned by tens of thousands of forest owners in southern Sweden.
No details are known about the duration of the closures. Vida Wood only stated that its sawmills will be shut down for “at least one week in February”. The exact duration will depend on possible changes in price structures, but also on the availability of log wood. The company will likely use this time to do maintenance work and to restock its log storage areas.
Vida Wood is the fifth-biggest European sawmill group in the Holzkurier’s ranking and produces around 2.7 million m³ of lumber a year in eleven sawmills. Södra is in 12th place with an annual output of 1.77 million m³ and eight sawmills. You can find the entire list here.
