The building industry is no stranger to pressure. But right now, the forces shaping construction decisions feel heavier, more complex, and more interconnected than ever before. In many markets, activity has slowed to a near standstill: projects postponed, decisions delayed, everyone waiting for conditions to improve. Margins are tight. Schedules even tighter. Every decision is made under strain—financial, regulatory, and operational—often all at once. For anyone working in construction today, uncertainty is no longer the exception. It is the operating environment. Nowhere is this pressure more visible than in material choices for wood-based construction.
There are a lot of factors currently affecting the markets,” says Jaakko Paloheimo, sustainability manager at UPM Plywood. “Geopolitics, interest rates, reluctance in investments, cost volatility, compliance, skilled labour shortages—the list goes on.”
Few people sit at the crossroads of these forces as directly as Mr Paloheimo. His role spans sustainability strategy, regulation follow-up, client dialogue, and wood construction development—placing him close to the decisions where pressure, performance, and responsibility collide.
In this environment, tolerance for error has vanished. There is no room for poor performance. And that reality is fundamentally changing how materials are chosen.
NO ROOM FOR MISTAKES
Construction has always been time sensitive. But today, time has become the most valuable currency of all.
“Construction processes are based on efficiency and tight schedules; hence construction time is the most valuable time,” Mr Paloheimo explains. “Houses need to be put into use fast to get the invested money back. This may cause poor decisions.”
As timelines have tightened, the impact of a single mistake has multiplied. A material failure no longer means just rework, it can delay a project by weeks, trigger penalties, and damage reputations. Increasingly, it can also become a compliance issue.
“A mistake can be a compliance risk,” Mr Paloheimo says, “leading to costly repairs and sustainability-related damage.”
Under these conditions, materials are no longer just a line item. They are a risk factor.
QUALITY IS ABOUT ELIMINATING UNCERTAINTY
When everything around a project feels uncertain, quality has a very practical purpose: it removes doubt.
“Reliable performance means materials behave exactly as specified when used correctly, regardless of external stressors,” says Mr Paloheimo. “They are predictable in a technical sense, but also service-wise: the right product, at the right time, as promised.”
For Mr Paloheimo, this predictability is not abstract – it allows projects to move forward with confidence when timelines are tight, and conditions not ideal. Quality is what enables planning instead of firefighting.
“Quality today is about eliminating uncertainty, both internally and externally,” he explains. “When materials perform consistently, contractors can plan confidently, reduce waste, and meet sustainability targets without compromise.”
Homogenous products, stable manufacturing processes, and reliable supply chains mean fewer surprises on site and fewer variables left to chance. In an industry under pressure, quality is no longer about exceeding expectations in ideal conditions. It is about predictability under real ones.
WHAT QUALITY LOOKS LIKE IN PRACTICE
When margins and schedules are tight, decision-makers look for materials they can trust without hesitation.
That trust starts with performance. In wood-based materials, moisture resistance and dimensional stability are critical. “Failure here means structural compromise and costly rework,” Mr Paloheimo notes.
But performance alone is no longer enough. It has to be provable through reliable documentation.
“We have to be able to trust the products and the related documents, for example DoPs and EPDs, and rely on them,” he says. “Documentation eases the workload for structural engineers and LCA professionals.”
Consistency also matters on site. Homogenous, predictable materials reduce waste, speed up installation, and allow teams to plan with confidence—even when everything else feels uncertain.
WISA PLYWOOD
UPM Plywood says its WISA Plywood is built for predictable performance.
For Mr Paloheimo, the brand represents reliability in its most practical sense: materials that deliver what they promise, without exceptions.
“For me, WISA plywood is a reliable, high-quality brand delivering its promises with the highest standards,” he says. “It carries a true Finnish heritage on its shoulders, reaching back over a hundred years.”
That heritage, UPM says, shows in how WISA performs under real-world conditions. Its technical properties are designed to remain predictable under stress, while its visual quality meets consistently high standards—an important factor in applications where appearance matters as much as performance.
UPM also says WISA’s environmental performance is also backed by verified, publicly available data, allowing professionals to rely on documentation rather than assumptions.
“We have verified data of our environmental impacts publicly available,” Mr Paloheimo notes.
This transparency reduces uncertainty not only for builders and contractors, but also for structural engineers and LCA professionals working under increasing regulatory pressure. Reliable documentation with quantified environmental impacts becomes part of the product’s performance.
And in an industry where pressure is unlikely to ease, the value of materials that hold their performance over time is only set to grow.
BUILDING FOR WHAT COMES NEXT
Long lifecycles, verified data, and predictable performance reduce environmental, financial, and operational risk. In this context, Nordic wood plays an important role, combining density and durability with responsible forest management and longterm carbon storage.
Ultimately, what holds projects together under pressure is not optimism, but trust.
“A good partnership is long-lasting, transparent, and open for dialogue,” Mr Paloheimo says. “During the lows, a solid partnership not only withstands – it supports.”
Mr Paloheimo is also clear-eyed about the future. The building sector will recover, he says. It is only a matter of time.
Markets will fluctuate. Regulations will evolve.
But one principle remains unchanged: progress is not built on shortcuts. It is built on materials that perform—every time, without exception.
UPM PLYWOOD OPERATIONS
UPM Plywood has annual sales of €430m, five production facilities, 1,800 employees, and seven sales offices. European sales account for 88% of output, with Asia accounting for 11%.
WISA plywood and veneer products are aimed at the construction, vehicle flooring, LNG shipbuilding, parquet and other industrial applications. Demands for the products is driven by
- Urbanisation, rising living standards and growth in construction
- Increasing land and sea transport
- Growing environmental awareness and the need for low carbon and low-emissions
WISA spruce plywood is used in construction, especially for floors, walls, and roofs. WISA birch plywood is used in the transport industry as vehicle flooring material and in insulation elements of LNG vessels. WISA spruce veneer and plywood is used in base structures of parquet flooring.
UPM Pellos Plywood Mill in Finland has an annual production capacity of 480,000m3 / year, producing softwood plywood for parquet, concrete formwork, transportation industry and distribution business.
UPM Joensuu Plywood Mill, also in Finland, has a capacity of 55,000m3 – WISA birch plywood mainly for transportation industry, e.g. LNG carriers and vehicle floors. Most of the products are further processed: special coatings, machinings or lacquered.
UPM Savonlinna Plywood Mill, the third mill in Finland, has a capacity of 80,000m3 – birch plywood for transportation, concrete formwork and other industrial end uses. WISA plywood is also produced here in Maxi sizes.
UPM Kalso Veneer Mill, Estonia has a stated capacity of 80,000m3 – rotary cut spruce veneers, used mainly as reverse side veneers for the parquet industry.
UPM-Kymmene Otepää OÜ, also in Estonia, has a capacity of 90,000m3 – uncoated and coated WISA birch plywood for construction, furniture and transport industries.
A strategic review of the UPM Plywood business has been ongoing since September 2025. The Group Board of Directors decided to initiate this to assess options for maximizing the long-term potential of the plywood business in an evolving market environment.
The review is looking at a range of possibilities – a potential separation from UPM through, for example a divestment, partial demerger or initial public offering.
However, Tuija Suur-Hamari, Executive Vice President, UPM Plywood, said at the time that UPM Plywood was a strong, customerfocused business with a clear strategy and a proven ability to perform under varying market conditions.
The review is expected to be concluded by the end of 2026.
Expert insights: Jaakko Paloheimo, Sustainability Manager at UPM Plywood
Jaakko Paloheimo is the Sustainability Manager at UPM Plywood, where he leads work on transparency, environmental performance, and responsible material use in global wood product markets. He focuses on communicating the sustainability of wood and wood‑based products to customers and stakeholders, helping reduce risks and strengthen trust through clear, evidence‑based information.
He has presented internationally on sustainability in architecture and wood construction, including several European conferences and seminars highlighting responsible material choices and the role of sustainable plywood in modern building.
Jaakko is active in advancing regulatory preparedness both in Finland and within UPM, contributing to the company’s work on upcoming EU requirements such as the Green Claims Directive and other sustainability frameworks guiding the future of wood and hybrid construction.
