Consequences of structural changes in roundwood and forest products markets.

The overall objective of the concerted action is to assess the users' needs for consistent analyses of the consequences of structural changes in the European markets for roundwood and forest industry products, and the data sources and models available for such analysis. More specifically, the project consists of the following sub-objektives: S1 Get overview of the present ' state-of-the-art' in Europe regarding: (a) Supply and demand analysis of timber and forest industry products at national and regional levels(including the connections between international and domestic/local markets). (b) Forest sector analyses (i.e. analysis where the forestry and forest industry sectors are combined) at national and regional levels. (c) Analyses of structural changes related to the forest sector. (d) Data availability for consistent demand and supply analyses of timber and forest industry products at the European level. S2 Assess which factors are the most important to consider when analyzing consequences of structural changes in the European markets for timber and forest industry products. S3 Based on S1 and S2, assess and recommend: (a) Which methods seem most promissing for analysis of structural changes in the European markets for timber and forest industry products. (b) Which data are needed for such analyses in addition to the presently available data. (c) Future research priorities in this field.