The Government's budget negotiations ,which were concluded last week, have resulted in taxation decisions that will weaken the preconditions for wood processing in Finland and provide more and more incentive for burning wood.
A tax on the energy utilisation of peat will increase the forest industry's raw material costs and weaken the supply of wood. Recycling costs will also rise.
"The forest industry has been going through extensive structural changes and has improved its competitiveness through its own actions. Just as the production is starting to recover in Finland, the Government decides to weaken the operating environment and increase the cost burden in next year's state budget,"says Finnish Forest Industries Federation Director General Timo Jaatinen.
"Higher energy and waste taxes will target different companies in very different ways. Wood processing opportunities should be exploited in a way that maximises the promotion of growth in the national economy."
"The Cabinet Committee on Economic Policy forgot about its promise to safeguard the competitiveness of the industry's energy taxation. The energy taxes paid by the forest industry of Finland will continue to increase in comparison to our rival countries. The original goal was to decrease this competitiveness-eroding difference. Energy taxation must be re-examined within the limits allowed by the EU Directive to promote the competitiveness of the export sector," Jaatinen says.
