20 November 2014: As part of the seventy-second meeting of the UN Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE) Committee on Forests and the Forest Industry (COFFI), the UNECE held a ‘Market Discussion,’ that focused on projected developments for 2015 in the forest sector and related markets.

Participants addressed, inter alia, global pressures impacting the wood fuel industry and emerging opportunities for wood-based fabric.

Overall, the meeting concluded that wood-based energy markets in North America are vulnerable due to a high reliance on subsidies, which is translating to higher energy prices in Europe; a situation that may prove to be untenable in the long term. In particular, low energy prices from non-wood fuels are negatively impacting wood-based energy across regions. Yet, the meeting noted that lower energy prices are having a positive impact on markets for other wood products such as furniture and housing.

With regard to wood-based fabric, land and water restrictions are expected to slow the production of cotton, providing an opportunity for increased market capture from the forestry sector. The meeting noted that wood-based fabric represents the most sustainable option available at the moment.

Discussions on markets draw from the UNECE Market Statements 2014, formulated from information provided by twenty countries within Europe, the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) and North America. The seventy-second meeting of the COFFI was held 18-20 November 2014 in Kazan, the Russian Federation. [UNECE Press Release] [UNECE Market Statements 2014]