Demand for peat in energy production has led the Finnish state-owned Neova Group (formerly Vapo) to reverse its autumn decision to stop production.
Neova intends to resume the harvesting of energy peat as early as next summer in Eastern Finland, which is particularly affected by the uncertainty related to wood imports from Russia. The company has not completely stopped production or decommissioned its harvesting equipment.
Neova has a large number of unused peat production areas where environmental permits are still valid.
At the end of last year, the company announced that it would cease production of energy peat altogether.
"Customers have now been in active contact with us. Many are concerned about security of supply [of wood]. This means that at such a rapid pace, peat is a viable solution that is fortunately still available in Finland," says Pasi RantonenDirector of Neova peat production.
Energy peat is currently in greatest demand in Eastern Finland, where Neova’s customers have used more imported wood from Russia.
UPM suspends wood imports from Russia
The forest industry company UPM announced on Wednesday that it will suspend wood purchases from Russia and Russia and the operations of the Chudovo plywood plant for the time being.
UPM announced earlier on March 3 that it would stop deliveries to Russia.
According to the company, the suspension will take into account UPM’s local employees, customers and stakeholders, as well as Russian legislation.
The change is in line with the decision of the FSC and PEFC forest certification bodies to exclude wood from Russia and Belarus from their certification schemes.
UPM announced its decision to continue to provide humanitarian and material assistance in Ukraine to help those affected by the war.
Source: The Nordic Page