Abstract

There are 3 principal groups on the Swedish roundwood market: the suppliers, the intermediaries (vendors) and the buyers. The suppliers include private, public and company forest owners, whose shares of the total forest land area are 50 %, 25 % and 25 %, respectively. The main intermediaries are the nine forest owner associations in the country. About 70 % of the private woodlot owners are members of these economic associations. The buyers comprise two main groups: the pulpmills and the sawmills. The pulpmills are the predominate consumers of wood raw materials. Sawmills are far more numerous than pulpmills and there are a variety of cooperative agreements to which the two categories are party. About 60 % of the total annual cut in Sweden is offered on the open market. Processing of the remainder of the wood is carried out by subsidiary or associated companies of the forest owner. Pricing of the wood is generally carried out during periodic negotiations. During the 1974/75 season, negotiations on the pricing of pulpwood were held in six different areas and, on the pricing of sawlogs, in twelve different areas. The parties to the negotiations are the forest owner associations and groups of buyers or buyers' representatives. The Swedish Forest Service, which manages a large proportion of the public forest land, negotiates directly with the buyers. A disadvantage of the current system is that there is a tendency for wood prices to lag behind the trends in prices of processed products. This can have adverse economic consequences for the forestry sector, particularly during depressed market conditions. An advantage of the price negotiations is the consequent stability of the market.

Keywords

roundwood; parties; wood price; negotiations

Published in

Studia Forestalia Suecica
1978,
ISBN: 91-38-03798-X
Publisher: College of Forestry, Sweish University of Agricultural Sciences

Permanent link to this page (URI)

https://res.slu.se/id/publ/125428