Industry revenue of »sawmilling and planing of wood« in Latvia 2011-2023

In 2016, Latvia was one of the leading producers of sawn softwood in Europe, with annual production of over three million cubic metres, as per data from the European Organisation of the Sawmill Industry. Additionally, it was also the eighth leading exporter in the world, having exported over 2.7 million cubic meters of sawn softwood. Therefore, it is not surprising to see that revenues of its sawmilling and planing of wood industry are projected to rise from 1.0 billion U.S. dollars in 2011 to 1.4 billion U.S. dollars by 2023. The industry has particularly benefitted from the strong increase in the number of sawmills, growing investments in new machinery development and of course a dense forest cover. In fact, Latvia has among the largest areas under forest cover in Europe, along with Finland and Sweden.

Amongst the leading manufacturers of sawn wood in the country include AKZ, PATA and Kurekss SIA. Interestingly, Latvia is also one of the largest producers of wood pellets in the world, having produced 1.5 million metric tonnes in 2018.