Summary
• Sawn softwood production was 1.46 million m³ in 2007.
• Switzerland’s first “super” mill was opened two years ago.
• The Swiss government has launched a new action plan to promote timber use.
• Sawn softwood exports were 80% higher in January-June 2008 compared with 2007.

Anybody who saw a Swiss TV news bulletin a few weeks ago might be forgiven for thinking the country’s timber industry was in intensive care. “Sawmills in crisis” screamed the programme, which talked about mills in the red and suffering ”black eyes”.

Although it is true that serious challenges exist, it is also right to point out that big structural changes are taking place in the Swiss wood processing sector that could position it to be a much bigger player in the export market. And some timber companies are doing all right.

So, to the facts – Switzerland has a population of 7.7 million and a total surface area of 41,285km². Total forest area is 1.24 million ha, compared with Austria’s 3.9 million ha, with the canton of Graubünden containing the most trees and Luzern cutting the most.

In total, 2.5 million m³ of roundwood was processed in 2007, approximately 70% of the volume of sawlogs harvested in Switzerland. Sawn softwood production was 1.46 million m³ in 2007, of which 1.32 million m³ was spruce and fir. Large category sawmills provided 715,799m³ of the total.

Exports up

Exports of sawn softwood were estimated to be 480,000m³ in 2008, more than double two years before, while this year the figure may top 600,000m³. In January to July 2008, 80% more sawnwood was exported than in the same period in 2007.

Two-thirds of the forests are certified, with the majority holding Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) and Programme for the Endorsement of Forest Certification (PEFC) scheme certificates. In contrast, most of the 140 or so certified sawmills hold only FSC certificates.

Larger Swiss sawmills, whose activities are geared towards the export market, are not currently producing at full capacity.

The sawmilling sector is consolidating. While production capacity is on the increase, the number of operations is decreasing.

The structural change towards larger production units means the six largest units (out of a total of about 350 sawmills) will soon make up more than 50% of Swiss production. This is a change from 2002, when only two operations had a capacity of more then 100,000m³. Then they were cutting 13% of the timber volume.

Super mills

One of the significant changes taking place is the emergence of the “super mill”. Stallinger Swiss Timber opened in 2007 with a capacity of one million m³. And Schilliger Holz AG has plans to open a 600,000m3 mill in 2010 although it is understood that current economic conditions may delay the project.

Swiss Timber, the largest sawmill in Switzerland in Domat/EMS, changed hands at the start of 2009, with Austria’s Mayr-Melnhof (MM) increasing its shareholding to 100% ownership. But the move has come at a tough time for the industry and MM has had to announce a 35% cut in production, although negotiations have saved jobs. Current production is about 600,000m³.

“We will continue at that level of production until we see other signs in the market,” said a MM spokesperson. But she said the situation for the smaller sawmills was even worse and that Swiss Timber was more flexible due to its modern equipment.

Strategically located

The mill’s geographically strategic position means it is well situated to serve the central and western European markets, although not yet the US or UK. Some of its production goes to other MM mills for further processing just across the border in Austria.

The spokesperson said the fact that Switzerland’s wood processing industry was not as well developed as Austria’s proved an attractive reason for MM to invest. But economic uncertainties have meant MM’s plans for further investment in Swiss Timber have been delayed.

The mill’s market entry is directly reflected in Swiss export figures for sawn softwood, which increased by 47% in 2007.

The UN Economic Commission for Europe’s Timber Committee predicts the economic downturn will accelerate the restructuring process in the Swiss sawmilling sector. If wood use is to be maintained or increased, wood prices must not fall in the long term. And it said the Swiss Timber sawmill must be able to exploit its processing capacity to the full to remain competitive, which could trigger a crowding-out effect.

Timber engineering success

One company which says business is thriving is timber engineering specialist Häring Engineering Ltd, which is 130 years old this year. Its curved glulam structures have caused something of a stir in recent years.

Its best-known UK project is the glulam roof for the Eden Project’s visitor and education centre and Marcel Aebi, Häring’s head of engineering, said the company was now well-known by UK architects and designers.

“They [UK architects] do not have specialist know-ledge for such big timber structures,” he said, adding that Häring is able to find engineering consultancy work, which provides inroads to supplying the structures. At the moment we have a good feeling about business growth prospects in the UK. Due to the economic situation we see a lot of private projects stopped, but the public projects are still in progress,” said Mr Aebi.

Two projects currently in the planning stages are a gridshell roof for a railway station, plus a big canopy as a link between two buildings.

“The market situation is not so important for us at the moment as we are not involved in big volumes of standard product,” said Mr Aebi.

On the hardwood front, the industry is very small, with practically no processing capacity in Switzerland. Non-coniferous production was 78,366m³ in 2007 and hardwood’s share of total production is only 5%.

However, a project exists (Avanti-Bois) to create a hardwood cluster in West Switzerland, with support from the Swiss Confederation. A large hardwood sawmill will constitute the core of this cluster, with numerous wood-processing operations to be located nearby. But investment is needed to get the project off the ground.

Despite the obvious difficulties in financing timber investment schemes, the federal environment office launched a new action plan on January 1 to encourage the use of wood for building.

Aktionsplanholz (2009-2012) replaces the Holz 21 wood promotion campaign, which finished at the end of 2008. It intends to increase awareness of the forests and use of timber across the population, implement a hardwood recovery plan and bring a focus on large volume timber systems.