EU membership has opened Finland up in many ways. Some of the key changes have come in construction. Before, the sector was typified by government intervention, but more recently the market has liberalised as consumers turn away from the old homogeneous apartment blocks and demand accommodation that suits their aims and aspirations.
Finns have an increasing disposable income as their tax structures gradually come more into line with other EU states. This has made for a much more diverse new build market and there is also demand for a wider range of RMI and DIY timber products.
The result is a tremendous opportunity for merchants, but also a challenge. As the business grows there is a pressure toward consolidation in the sector with multi-nationals using their muscle to drive efficiencies through the market place.
Two of the main merchanting businesses are Puukeskus, owned by UPM Kymmene, and Starrki, which is Danish-owned and based on the acquisition of Metsallito’s merchanting interests in Finland. These companies both offer an extremely comprehensive range of timber and joinery products. Where they differ is that Starrki closely resembles a ‘depot’ formula, with a retail area attached, providing the entire range of building products.
Puukeskus offers a narrower product range, concentrated on timber and joinery. Timber products account for over 80% of all sales. Both businesses provide a huge depth of stock in all timber sectors and the first impression that comes across is quality – unsurprisingly, Finnish specifications call for high grade timber products.
Competition appears to be keen and there is a battle for market share in all the key items.
Constructional carcassing regulations are just changing, which will take the minimum grading standard above C24 on all structural material. Preservative treatment is not as common as in the UK, but is still required in many areas. Arsenic-free solutions are taking over and Finnish legislation requires merchants to provide a disposal system at every site where CCA material is sold for customers to return all offcuts and waste. As with all of the Scandinavian countries, environmental issues are clearly at the top of the agenda.
LVL is growing in popularity, for some common sections, such as 50×100 and laminated timber is offered in most of the large section sizes.
Machined timber sections are offered across a wide range of sizes and naturally the bulk of the product range is whitewood, ex-Finnish mills with sawfalling grades as the standard. Internal and external cladding sections are very popular, creating very high volumes in 25/32×100 and wider sections.
An English expat who now runs a construction firm in Helsinki said that the price and quality offered by Finnish merchants was not intrinsically better than in the UK, but the overall levels of building standards are higher and call for better materials.
While MDF has made significant inroads into the market for joinery purposes, OSB is not used widely and there is almost no Brazilian/Far Eastern plywood available.
Finnish (and to a lesser extent Russian/Latvian) birch plywood is the main product for joinery, carpentry and painted sections and the grades offered appear to be equal to or lower than in the UK, probably due to price competition. Spruce plywood dominates for construction.
Doors and joinery follow the requirements for high insulation factors and internal doors, as in so many European and Scandinavian countries are “over-rebated”, panel effect styles, with a heavy preference towards white and lighter colours.
Timber and laminate flooring products are very popular throughout Finland and, while traditional flooring still takes a large market share, new trends are emerging in colours, textures and patterns.
