Fresh export markets are expected to be created for Finland’s forestry industry following the enlargement of the Europen Union.
The Finnish Forest Industries Federation (FFIF) said that new members such as Slovenia, Bulgaria and Romania cannot produce the volumes necessary to meet demand in the next few years. It also thinks that demand for forest products will grow as peoples’ standard of living in those countries rises.
The enlargement is expected to give the forest industry investment opportunities, a skilled labour force and lower production costs than in Western Europe.
Competition from production plants in new member countries is not viewed as a threat by the FFIF. “We have nothing to worry about”, the federation’s trade policy director Claes von Ungern-Sternberg said.
Forest industries in the expansion zone, which mainly concentrate on wood products rather than pulp and paper, are suffering from a lack of capital and energy, while Hungary has limited forest resources.
The sawn goods market is expected to be more competitive following enlargement but foreign investment is seen as a crucial factor for new members.
