Finnish forest industry is renewing in many ways

The forest industry is renewing itself in many ways. Structures are being lightened, new operating methods are being sought and new types of business are being developed, says Dr. Anne Brunila, President and CEO of the Finnish Forest Industries Federation, in the Forest Industry Review.

Recently companies have announced many new projects that have already proceeded to the pilot stage, linked to biofuels and combining nanotechnology and smart features
with fibres or packaging. These projects open many interesting opportunities for the forest industries.

"The rapid progress made by Forest Cluster Ltd, which was established to spur innovation, is also promising. Its first programs concern smart and resource-efficient production technologies and biorefinery concepts," Brunila describes. "Creating the new requires giving up the old, however, which people often seem to forget.”

Dr Brunila reminds that developing new business operations requires investments and does not happen overnight.

"An idea for a new product that took shape on a researcher’s desk ten years ago may only be reaching consumers now. In between is a huge amount of research, product development and tailoring, which costs a lot of money.”

"Developing new operations has to be financed with current operations. Thus, companies must take care of the profitability of their current operations and existing products, to which jobs and production capital are tied,” Brunila points out.

In spite of major restructuring, forest industry production in Finland was on the same level as the year before.

”Finland will remain a key producer in the forest sector. The restructuring that is taking place has meant hard decisions in many localities, but changes are indispensable for the future," Dr. Brunila concludes.