On 7-8 June 2023, EOS had the honour to give a presentation at the Global Log and Lumber Softwood Conference held in Vancouver, Canada. The Conference, organized by Forest Economic Advisors, is a very relevant event in the softwood lumber industry with participants and presenters from all over the world.

A session of the Conference was devoted to the analysis of the supply in the future for the sawmill industry on both sides of the Atlantic. The presentation of EOS analyzed the challenges connected to the logs supply in Europe. EOS showed that over the last 20 years the supply of softwood logs (which are almost entirely sourced in Europe) has consistently increased in Europe, in line with increasing demand for sawn softwood, which is key to decarbonizing the economy and thus fighting climate change. However, in the medium- to long-term a combination of factors – including the aftermath of the bark beetle crisis in Central Europe, the changed composition of European forests as a result of climate change (crudely put, more hardwood and less softwood), and, importantly, legislation passed by the EU institutions – will probably determine a decline in the supply of softwood logs. The areas available for wood supply might shrink, the forest management and harvesting costs will probably increase and the range of available species will change. As a result, the softwood industry will have to adapt to a very different landscape to the one we see today. Innovation (new products, increased logs’ yield for instance) will be key.