UK and Irish sawmillers have invested heavily in the pursuit of improved efficiency and recovery rates and increased volumes over the last few years.
Until relatively recently the exchange rate was in their favour, making domestic output more attractive to buyers of sawn timber and the knock-on effect was much improved market share – up to around 40%.
With the sudden strengthening of the pound, this year is shaping up somewhat differently but the financial gains they have made in the last handful of years has given mills the cash base to invest, perhaps more than they would have expected.
And over the next 10-15 years, most parts of the UK will see an increase in the availability of timber so there is an opportunity to capture more raw material – something that has been a limiting factor in the past.
"The domestic wood processing sector has a good and enviable track record of continuing investment through good times and bad," said David Sulman, executive director of the UK Forest Products Association (UKFPA).
"What we’re seeing is business confidence being reflected in continuing investment to improve productivity and quality and I think we will see more of that."
"There is an underlying confidence in the future of the industry," agreed Stuart Goodall, Confor chief executive. "A number of mills have invested in recent years because they see there is an increasing volume of timber available from the plantings that took place last century. And with the investment they’ve been able to increase production and sell more timber. That feel-good factor is clearly spreading."
It’s not just about chasing volume, either, with mills investing in technology allowing them to diversify and add value to their sawn timber and expand into the supply of construction grade timber and timber products.
Between them the sawmilling giants have spent tens of millions of pounds in new technology, from entire sawlines to biomass boilers and smaller scale processing equipment such as incising machinery.
As reported previously in TTJ, John Gordon & Son has invested £20m in its Nairn business, including in biomass and heattreating products.
James Callander & Son has been working on the development of a multi-million pound greenfield site in Kincardine, West Fife, not far from its mill in Falkirk.
And James Jones & Sons has also continued investing in all its sites following on from its £25m spend on its Lockerbie 3 sawline – including an ongoing expansion programme at its JJI-Joist manufacturing plant in Forres.
Meanwhile, BSW Timber has upgraded technology at its Dalbeattie and Carlisle mills and built a new 300,000m3 annual capacity mill at Fort William as part of a five-year £50m investment plan.
A major deal with Natural Resources Wales to guarantee the supply of locally sourced Welsh larch over a 10-year period will allow for further expansion at the group’s Newbridge-on-Wye mill. Previous investment to the tune of £6m has already made BSW’s Newbridge site the largest single site sawmill in Wales.
And following the group’s acquisition of RF Giddings last year, it has plans to increase production at the Southampton mill. Republic of Ireland-based Woodfab Timber has replaced the Linck profiling line that was destroyed in a major fire in 2010 with a new Brodbaek line.
The new facility offers improved optimization and, like its predecessor, it is a heavy fencing line and will also produce some carcassing and pallet timber.
Glennon Brothers has invested nearly €60m in the Irish sawmilling sector since 1997 – including, in 2014, €13m in a stress grading and planing facility featuring a state-of-the-art USNR lineal high grader and Ledinek planer.
But that doesn’t mean it’s ignoring its Scottish mills, which now produce more timber and employ more staff than its Irish ones.
The latest development is a £3m investment in a new value-added processing line at its Windymains Timber site. The 200m2 facility will include a five-head Stenner resaw, a vertical twin resaw and an outfeed conveyor with automated strapping and bearer placement.
It’s not just the giants that are investing, of course.
David Sulman points to several UKFPA members who are in the throes of upgrading or expanding their production, including A&J Scott, Hales Sawmills and Charles Ransford & Son Ltd.
Others include James Davies Sawmills in Newcastle Emlyn, which is putting in new sawing equipment to improve yield and efficiency and to meet the growing demand for fencing.
"We’ve put in a complete new mill since 2010 and are commissioning the last pieces now – an automatic twin resaw and optimising edger," said Quinton Davies, managing director.
He added that the choice of a French manufacturer’s machinery was down to the flexibility and accuracy it could add to the mill’s operations.
"We try to add value to our process right through the line," he said.
"We put in a planing line in 2010 and that enabled us to start manufacturing fencing panels."
This latest machinery update cost around £1m, and investments since 2010 have amounted to around £3.5m, which, as Mr Davies acknowledges, is "a lot for a small company".
Elsewhere, Teifi Timber Products has significantly increased mechanisation and Forest of Dean-based Woodgate Sawmills is at the early stages of ground works for a replacement sawline, which will be installed later this year.
Meanwhile, P Irving & Sons Ltd in the north-west of England is investing a sixfigure sum in a new line and is looking at the possibility of expanding into the biomass market.
This potential revenue stream is attracting keen interest, with Hales Sawmills and Charles Ransford just two examples of sawmills investing in woodchip drying technology.
"It’s an obvious area to invest in because they already have the supply chains in place," said Mr Goodall.
"Mills are typically getting up to 60% recovery of sawn timber on logs, so if they are able to use the remaining 40% on site or to add value to it, then that can be financially attractive."
