Nov 13, 2009. /Lesprom Network/. Forest industry wood purchases increased by 10% in October and reached 1.7 million cubic metres. More timber supplies are needed, however, to ensure that factories do not run out of raw materials, Finnish Forest Industries Federation said in a press release received by Lesprom Network. The industry managed to procure only about 7.4 million cubic metres of wood from private forests in January-October, which is 71% less than the amount purchased during the corresponding period of 2008. January-October purchases of pine and spruce logs were down 63% from the corresponding period of the previous year, while birch log procurements decreased by 79%, pine and birch pulpwood by 76% and spruce pulpwood by 74% from January-October 2008. The temporary tax break granted to timber sales revenue does not seem to have had much of an effect on timber sales activity. Transaction volumes are persistently low and sawmills in particular have experienced difficulties in securing sufficient quantities of logs. Spruce log stumpage prices rose by 3% and pine log stumpage prices by 2% from last September. These logs now fetch some Euro 46 per cubic metre on average. The average stumpage price of birch logs is now Euro 36 per cubic metre. The stumpage price of pine pulpwood decreased by 3% and the stumpage prices of both spruce and birch pulpwood were down 2%. Pine pulpwood now fetches Euro 14, spruce pulpwood Euro 18 and birch pulpwood Euro 13 per cubic metre on average.