Assessing The Export Performance of Wood and Articles of Wood Industry: The Case of Nordic Countries

Wood and articles of wood industry is one of the key industries of Nordic economies. It is plays an important role in Nordic countries foreign trade and economic development. In the last 15 years, the export of wood and articles of wood has grown 35 percent. Today, Nordic countries are major producer and exporter of many wood based products. In this study examined the export performance of wood and articles of wood industry of Nordic countries (Denmark, Sweden, Norway, Finland and Iceland). With this aim, the Revealed Comparative Advantage (RCA), Revealed Symmetric Comparative Advantage (RSCA) and Trade Balance Index were used. The study used 2 digit level of Harmonized Commodity Description and Coding System (HS) classification. In study used UN COMTRADE statistical data for the period 2001-2015. According to the findings Denmark, Finland and Sweden have the competitiveness in the wood and articles of wood. It was found that Norway and Iceland have the competitive disadvantage in the wood and articles of wood. Also, it was found that Finland and Sweden are net exporters in wood and articles wood while Denmark, Norway and Iceland are net importer countries in wood and articles of wood