Pudasjärvi’s log cabin pride has landed a huge contract, with proceeds flowing all the way to Oulu

Tales of horrors rising from the crumbling bottom of Mataku have been heard since ancient times. From all appearances, this was not one of them. News Flashlast week from the direction of Pudasjärvi.

The news is exceptionally positive for Pudasjärvi and the province as a whole: the log house manufacturer Kontiotuote has signed a €250 million framework contract to supply wooden structures for around 10,000 apartments at two locations, the first of which is on the Mediterranean.

Kontiotuote also designed the architecture and was involved in the development of the project.

The first deliveries will be made to customers in the autumn of next year, with actual deliveries starting in early 2025. The framework agreement runs for seven years.

For the company The deal is a jackpot. Kontiotuote, or Kontio for short, is the world’s largest maker of log cabins, but a downturn in the domestic construction industry and a drop in Russian trade have also shaken its position as the industry’s top dog. The company’s turnover has been falling for the past few years, and last year it fell to zero.

Now it is light and warm again. Although the number of jobs in the company has obviously not increased, the framework agreement has protected existing jobs during the hibernation of the domestic market.

Kontiotuote was originally a company from Pudasjärvi and still is one, but it also employs 70 people in Oulu, for example in planning and marketing tasks. The company currently has a total of 230 employees.

The city of Pudasjärvi was also congratulated for its reliance on logs in its own construction, with the Log Campus being the most beautiful example. Finland’s “Log Capital” thus provides the industry with the opportunity to show how logs can replace concrete or traditional wooden construction, even on large sites.

container The deal is the largest in the company’s history. The framework agreement is shrouded in mystery because the client is described as a very wealthy Western European, but his name has not been revealed. For example, it could be a model for the client seeking a competitive advantage.

In any case, this is a billionaire who is mentioned in the list of the richest people in the world and on each continent by Forbes magazine. The client was told that he would finance this huge project with his own funds and not with a loan.

Container products The information that the framework agreement contains important additional options for expanding cooperation also sounds great. Hopefully, this huge project will proceed smoothly. The great advantage of the log house at this time is that it is a carbon-bound product.

Kontio’s trade is also important because the product list of the Finnish wood processing industry includes pulp, paper and board, among other products. This is especially important when a real breakthrough in new bioproducts from the forestry industry is still awaited. One such bioproduct is log houses.