The Swedish forest industry is producing as never before. According to recently published figures from the National Board of Forestry, production of sawn timber goods, pulp and paper for 2003 is expected to be 3% higher at up to 86 million m3 (compared with 83.5 million m3 in 2002), with sawn timber exceeding 17 million m3. Forest owners are expected to meet the increased demand for timber by felling considerably more than the previous year’s record level.
Sawmills’ profitability for 2003 is forecast to be between 3-4%. This is a continuation of the considerably improved profitability in 2002 of 3.5% after having been around zero for several years.
In relation to this, Bertil Stener of the Swedish Forest Industries Federation‘s wood mechanical section points out that the number of sawmills in Sweden has declined and production per unit increased, particularly in the past 10 years, which is a sign of the development taking place in the wood mechanical industry.
“There are two categories of wood mechanical companies that are being crystallised,” he said. “There are global timber companies with a wide product specification, system solutions for example, for building, and a strong brand name, plus those concentrating on certain niches with high customer adaptation, specialisation and product development. This development towards global and niche related companies is a way of improving profitability”.
New organisation
The Swedish wood processing industry, with its 35,000 employees in 7,000 companies, has assembled under one organisation: TMF (The Swedish Federation of Wood and Furniture Industries). This body combines representatives of the joinery industry, the furniture industry, wooden house manufacturers and wood component manufacturers who previously all had their own individual organisations.
Stora Enso and Korsnäs have decided to transfer their Swedish forestland to a new company under the name of Bergvik Skog. Although the two companies will only have a minority interest in Bergvik Skog (5% and 44.9% respectively), their timber supplies will be ensured, with each continuing to obtain 30% of their raw material supplies from the forests involved. Korsnäs will obtain a payment of SKr3.05bn while Stora Enso will receive SKr1.26bn from the sale.
The Swedish Energy Agency has granted Värmeforsk Service AB the sum of SKr2.3bn in support of forest industry research for 2004 and 2005. This support will form 40% of the whole programme, with the remainder funded by forest industry companies. The aim of the programme is to increase the Swedish forest industry’s competitiveness, improve environmental work and increase the forest industry’s contribution to energy supplies through the more efficient use of energy.
More research
Furthermore, grants have been provided for eight projects related to timber research by Formas (The Swedish Research Council for Environment, Agricultural Science and Spatial Planning). Five of the projects are related to timber as a building material while the other three involve forestry and the material development of wood.
A property company called Polaris, based in Skellefteå in the north of Sweden, plans to build a timber frame car park. Timber was chosen because it will not only provide an attractive building but could also be dismantled if required and it has more resistance to road salt. “We want to build a car park that is different to all others,” said Jens Wickström of Polaris. “Wood is a more aesthetically pleasing material than concrete and steel. We also wish to provide a reference project that will show what can be done with the material and also provide support to the timber industry in this region.”
Housing project
Five-storey timber apartment blocks are to be built on a quayside in Sundsvall. The municipal housing company Mitthem invited proposals for the design and build project and NCC and White architects won the competition. The first stage, comprising three buildings, will be finished in May 2005 at a cost of SKr60m.
Wood fuel is becoming ever more important in Sweden. In 2002 the energy produced by district heating power plants fuelled by wood amounted to 18.4 TWh – the equivalent of three or four nuclear power stations.
Despite forestry being such a major industry in Sweden sometimes Swedish companies have to look abroad for their timber supplies. Such a case is the Gothenburg district heating plant that is buying wood fuel pellets from western Canada since no supplier in Sweden was able to provide a quote for the work. The pellets are shipped over the Pacific Ocean, through the Panama Canal, across the Atlantic, over the North Sea, through Skagerrak and half of Kattegatt to Varberg where they are unloaded. From there 15 lorries per weekday supply the plant in Gothenburg. Despite this long journey the authorities are convinced that it is both an economic and environmentally advantageous way to provide heat for the city.
