The Finnish stevedoring strike ended today, bringing relief to the country’s forest products industry.
But industry officials warned that the sector now faced a hard task to win back the confidence of customers, following the two-week strike action, which prevented timber and paper leaving the country’s ports.
The strike officially ended with the various parties, including Finnish transport workers union AKT, accepting a proposal made by the state conciliator.
Sawmills, plywood facilities and paper mills will begin opening again over the next few days
“The flow of export revenues was cut off after the stevedore strike halted the forest industry’s client deliveries,” said Jari Forss, executive vice-president of the Finnish Forest Industries Federation.
“The forest industry in Finland lost orders for good because clients can no longer rely on the delivery ability of Finnish factories.”
He said the strike had not affected the sawmilling industry as badly as the paper sector, but some customers have switched to other suppliers.
Some mills continued operating by using temporary storage facilities to stockpile products and goods were taken by road to Swedish ports for shipping.
“It will take at least several weeks to clear inventories of export and import goods at harbours,” said Mr Forss.
