The Koskisen Group sells Finnish pine and spruce sawn timber to Japan. There, it is used especially to construct buildings.  All timber that is exported to Japan passes through the Port of Helsinki.

For a general port like the Port of Helsinki, the forestry industry is a major customer segment.

“A third of the exports that go through the Port of Helsinki are forestry industry products. For example, sawn timber is shipped from Loviisa to North Africa, and pulp is sent from Vuosaari to China as break bulk cargo. A growing trend is to transport forestry industry products in bulk by rail to partner terminals in the Vuosaari logistics area — there, the cargo is containerised and taken as unit cargo to the closed-off port area. It is then transported to the continent on a container ship and from there to destinations around the world. Forestry industry products are also imported — they account for about 5 per cent of total tonnage,” says Vesa Marttinen, Vice President of Cargo at the Port of Helsinki.

EUR 50 million for a new sawmill

The Koskisen Group containerises the sawn timber that goes through the port at its own sawmill in Kärkölä, Järvelä. The sawmill has been recently modernised with an investment of EUR 50 million. Forty per cent of exports are transported in containers, a fifth in semitrailers.

“Eight per cent of Koskisen’s net sales come from Japan. We export sawn goods there, rather than sheet products,” says Export Manager Juha Virmiala.

Last year, the sawmill industry generated 45 per cent of Koskisen’s net sales of over EUR 271 million. Sheetwood production — chipboard, veneer and plywood — accounted for a slightly higher share, but Japanese buyers are interested particularly in sawn timber. Almost a third of Koskisen’s sawn timber is shipped to Japan.

“Japan has not had enough forest resources for its industry, especially in the past. Another reason why they buy from Finland is our high quality,” says Virmiala.

Koskisen sells spruce to Japan for two main applications: companies process it further for house factories by planing and cutting it to size, or it is used for veneers by laminated veneer mills. In practice, all of it is used for building construction.

“No lower-quality products are exported from Finland to Japan, such as wood that would be used for packaging. For the Japanese, only square-edge laths are acceptable, even for under-roof structures that are not left visible,” says Virmiala, describing the cultural differences.

The Japanese have exact requirements

Only a small amount of standard-sized sawn products are exported to Japan.

“We seek to add value for our customers by providing them with products in the dimensions they want, when they want — and with high quality, too,” says Virmiala.

He makes sales trips to Japan two to four times a year. Typically, each trip takes from just over a week to two weeks, but sometimes he can spend as long as seven weeks on the road. The actual sales are often made virtually.

Exports to Japan account for 8 per cent of Koskinen’s net sales.

“During my trips, we discuss the market and take care of relationships. The actual offer is usually made after the trip. The Japanese also visit us often. It’s easy to get to Järvelä from the airport in one hour.”

From the Port of Helsinki, the sawn timber is shipped in a container to a continental European port, such as Rotterdam. There, the container is unloaded from the feeder vessel to await loading onto an ocean vessel.

The travel time is impacted by current crises.

“Ocean vessels don’t currently pass through the Suez Canal, which used to be the normal route. Now they go around Africa. This lengthens the travel time by at least 10 days. The total length is now almost 70 days, when it used to be 55 to 60 days,” Virmiala says.

Depending on the vessel, it either sails directly to Japan or — more likely — the cargo is transshipped along the way, such as in China.  Koskisen uses 40-foot marine containers. You cannot fit two maximum-length sawn products (measuring 6.1 metres) end-to-end in one of these containers. You have to include shorter products as well.

“The relative cost of the cargo increases substantially if you have to ship a container that’s only partly full.”

FACTS

• Exports of forestry industry products through the Port of Helsinki last year amounted to 1.1 million tonnes of paper, 0.8 million tonnes of pulp and slurry, and about half a million tonnes of raw wood and sawn timber.
• More than 400,000 tonnes of sawn timber were exported via the Port of Helsinki last year.
• Koskisen Oyj invested EUR 50 million in a sawmill completed in Kärkölä last year. It steps up the company’s output to 400,000 cubic metres per year.