UK Forest Products Association members have returned from a study tour of the wood-processing industry in the North Rhine-Westphalia and Thuringia regions of north-western Germany.
The 25 tour participants represented the UK timber harvesting, softwood and hardwood sawmilling, panelboard and paperboard sectors, from companies based as far afield as Hampshire to the Highlands of Scotland.
Visits included the Egger MDF plant and its large volume softwood sawmilling operations at Brilon, large-scale, high quality beech processing operations by Pollmeier at Creuzburg, smaller scale Norway spruce sawmilling by Ernst Fisch Holzindustrie at Rüthen and glulam production at the Hüttemann plant at Olsberg.
“This has been a great study tour, which provided members with a fascinating and thought-provoking insight into the forest products sector in northern Germany,” said Gavin Davidson, UKFPA president, (Iggesund Forestry (UK) Ltd).
“We visited plants ranging from very large scale production facilities to smaller production units and specialist manufacturing operations, which provided interesting comparisons with the UK experience.
“The opportunity to learn more about the sector in Germany and to discuss topical matters with industry players there was invaluable.”
