Swedish sawmiller Norra Timber has ratcheted up mill investment levels with projects at several of its facilities.
The business, part of Norra Skog Group, is investing SEK150m in the Hissmofors Sawmill to increase production in three separate stages.
First up are updates in post-saw processing to enable planned updates to the saw line. The new machinery will have significantly higher capacity than the previous technology, with SEK40m investment leading to an annual production increase of 10,000m3.
The next two investment stages involve upgrades to the saw line and total approximately SEK100m.
“We have previously invested heavily in the sawmills in Kåge and Sävar,” said Henrik Jönsson, Norra Timber industry manager. “Now, thanks to these investments in Hissmofors, we have a better geographical balance. We have modern, competitive facilities as well as access to amazing raw materials.”
Hissmofors Sawmill currently has an annual production of approximately 170,000m3, with the goal of increasing production to 200,000m3 within the next two years.
Norra Timber continues to invest heavily in its sawmill in Kåge, with the commissioning of a brand new 300-metre-long timber sorting facility and a computer tomograph that provides a detailed insight into the internal properties of every log.
An important benefit of the company’s state-of-the-art scanning process is improved traceability. Now each log can be identified individually, just as a person can be identified by their DNA or fingerprint.
Thanks to the improved traceability, the CT scanner provides it will eventually be possible to follow a log from its felling site to a finished product.
Sävar Sawmill also has a similar saw line to Kåge.
Norra also operates three processing units and a utility pole factory. Its total production amounts to nearly 800,000m3 of sawn timber, 155,000m3 of planed timber, approximately 60,000 turned pine poles and 275,000 bales of wood shavings per year.
