“Despite a somewhat cautious building trade, the UK market is still strong,” it said.

“The price trend in the UK is positive, and strengthened by the exchange rate of the GBP. Demand for sawn timber is rising in the US and Asia, while order inflows have fallen somewhat in China over the past month. This is believed to be a temporary response to the higher prices.”

However, the quarter was marked by certain challenges resulting from the saw-log shortage, which meant that some sawmills were forced to reduce production and deliveries were thus under capacity.

Sales for the quarter amounted to SKr1.39bn, (2017 Q1: SKr1.53bn).