Rising bunker prices are now hitting Swedish sawmill exporters on every trade lane, with the Strait of Hormuz closure driving up costs across routes and cutting off Middle East volumes, with no end in sight. That is according to Setra Group’s Olle Berg, Executive Vice President of market and business development at one of Sweden’s largest processors, who exports sawn timber, glulam, CLT, and structural components to Europe, North America, Asia, North Africa, and the Middle East. And according to Berg, the damage was coming through on two fronts – one from high oil prices now feeding into bunker costs regardless of destination, and the other from direct shipments to the Middle East, with container prices, surcharges and risk premiums climbing exponentially. “For Swedish sawmills, the volumes to the area are relatively small — but not insignificant,” Berg told a Timber Exchange webinar focused on the impact of the conflict on global sawmilling.