Finland Times

Harvesting volumes will rise, in his view, in the spring and summer of 2017. The plant is scheduled to begin production in the fall, with full wood capacity expected from the 2018 harvesting season.

“Roughly speaking, there is a rhythm,” Mäntylä said.

The usual harvesting period for timber is two years. An especially rare winter harvest might result in a three-year harvesting period.

Äänekoski’s bio-product factory is increasing its use of pulpwood by four million cubic metres per year. This is a 10 per cent increase in comparison to its previous highest use of pulpwood.

The use of pulpwood is also increasing across Finland. Completed, ongoing or planned projects include UPM’s Kymi and Kaukas pulp mill renovations, an increase in Stora Enso’s Varkaus pulp mill capacity and Finnpulp Kuopio pulp mill factory. There’s also a new mill planned for Kemijärvi.