Ministers promise support for ailing forest industry
Mauri Pekkarinen
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Jyri Häkämies
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Both Minister of Economic Affairs Mauri Pekkarinen (Centre Party) and Minister of Defence Jyri Häkämies (Nat. Coalition Party) voiced concern on Thursday about the situation in the Finnish forest industry.
Reacting to the poor interim result of the state-owned Stora Enso, the two noted that the issue is not one of a single company, but rather of the future of the entire industry in Finland.
Häkämies, who is the minister in the government responsible for issues related to state corporate ownership, said that he had discussed the situation with representatives of the forest companies on Thursday.
He said that he agrees with the assessment of Stora Enso CEO Jouko Karvinen, according to which state aid will be needed to help the industry.
“Now it is important to ponder how all of us together - companies, wood sellers, and employees can do to get through this so that the forest industry does not shut down in Finland”, Häkämies said.
He added that the government will discuss the issue soon, and that he suspects that the state of the forest industry will not improve in the the short term.
The forest industry employs nearly 200,000 people in Finland, directly and indirectly.
“It affects everything, manufacture of machinery, and harbours. For instance, the result of [the rail freight service] VR Cargo plummeted when imports of wood from Russia stopped”, Häkämies said.
Possible solutions in his view include increasing production of nuclear-generated electricity as a way of bringing down energy prices, and easing the acquisition of wood.
“Owners of forest are splintered, and in that area, moves toward greater efficiency are needed, so that wood might move”, Häkämies said. He did not specify what kinds of actions he thought were needed.
“We cannot compete with Brazil, but we can compete with Sweden and the rest of Europe.”
Mauri Pekkarinen also feels that thought should be given to what to do next. However, he also says that the long-term future also needs to be considered; Finland needs to ponder what new products it could manage with in the future.
“As we cannot start buying paper into storage to support the industry, we must think of the development of the field in the future”, said Pekkarinen by telephone from China, where he was on a visit.
He noted that forest companies are doing good research and development work in bio-energy and in the development of new environmentally friendly packaging.
Pekkarinen noted that a strategy group has been established in the Ministry of Economic Affairs, which is following up on developments in the field, and drawing up proposals for action.
More on this subject:
 Metal companies report disappointing results
Helsingin Sanomat
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