One conclusion you draw from PiveteauBois’s 90-page catalogue is that this leading French softwood specialist is one seriously vertically integrated business.

If there was an index, it could nearly stretch from A to Z. The product range extends from carcassing to wood composites, fencing to flooring, glulam to garden furniture, posts to pergolas. The company is also a major wood pellet manufacturer and even produces timber swimming pool kits. What is more, all of these products are made in-house at the company’s modern sites in France and Poland.

The extensive product portfolio also means the company has an extensive customer base. It sells across France, to Italy, Spain and as far afield as North Africa, Japan and French overseas territories in the Caribbean and Indian Ocean. It now also believes it has the range to develop a following in the UK and Ireland and, as a clear declaration of intent, in Elisabeth Piveteau has just appointed an energetic, London-resident export manager to target the markets.

PiveteauBois now ranks as one of France’s top three softwood sawmillers, with annual log throughput of 800,000m³ and output of semi- and finished goods of 300,000m³, plus fuel pellet production of around 280,000 tonnes. But it started as one man and a bandsaw when Pierre Piveteau, father of current chairman Pierre and president Jean and grandfather of Elisabeth, bought an old machine from a retiring sawmiller in the south-west village of Sainte-Florence.

Early on, Piveteau Sawmill focused on local markets, but the seeds of the strategies of diversification and getting the most from the raw material were already sown.

"Our slogan now is ‘using 100% of the tree’, and that was also the philosophy early on," said Jean Piveteau. "Today it underlines our environmental commitment to making best use of the timber resource, but at the outset it was also because Ste Florence is not close to a forested area, so, to offset transport costs, it made sense to get maximum value from every cubic metre."

The company was also among the first up the next steps in modern timber value addition. In 1980 it installed kiln dryers and a planing mill, and set up its nearby ‘timber transformation’ finished goods factory, La Vallée, which has since expanded to a 15ha facility. Vacuum pressure treatment followed in 1984.

"No other French mill offered this range of value added product, and it gave us a unique position in the domestic market for 10 years," said Mr Piveteau.

Another strategic move came in 1994 when PiveteauBois launched its SylvaDrewno mill in Poland to tap the country’s rich reserves of pinus sylvestris.

"Today it also gives us access to FSC material, to complement our PEFC-certified

French timber," said Mr Piveteau. "We started in Poland with five people. Now we have 250 staff, annual throughput of 100,000m³ and production of 50,000m³ in sawn, round, planed and machined timber, garden products and structural components. The facility also mirrors Ste Florence, with kilns, treatment plant, glulam and pellet production.

The company expanded significantly again in 2005 with the acquisition of the Scierie Farges Douglas fir, larch and spruce mill in France’s Massif Central. Its output has since risen from 25,000m³ to 125,000m³.

"We installed a top-of-the-range Finnish Hewsaw mill line with capacity for 220,000m³, so we’re still only at just over half capacity," said Mr Piveteau.

The company also moved in another new direction in 2005, unveiling its Wex composite range. The Pellets wood-fuel brand following a year later.

The former is an extruded material, made at Ste-Florence, comprising two-thirds wood fibre to a third polypropylene. End uses include decking, cladding, deck squares and fencing.

"Wex is versatile, with good environmental credentials," said Mr Piveteau. "It’s based on sawmill residue, contains no glue, zero formaldehyde and can be recycled."

One hundred per cent branded
PiveteauBois is also set apart by being 100% branded. Besides WEX and Pellets, it sells under the Durapin and Lamwood trademarks. The former is described as the "flagship" range, covering CL4 pine, and CL3 Douglas fir exterior products including decking, cladding, garden buildings, fencing, sound and crash barriers. It also includes cladding and decking in thermo-treated timber, for which the company currently sub-contracts processing, and its swimming pool range.

The pools are made in CL4 treated pine and come with everything the enthusiastic DIY-installer would need. Up to 4,500 are sold a year.

"The kit is easy to assemble – my niece built hers herself!" said Mr Piveteau.

The other product brand is Lamwood, comprising Douglas fir, pine, larch and spruce GL24h glulam beams up to 13m long, and laminated and finger-jointed components for the timber frame, general construction and interior joinery sectors. The range also includes a CL4 green or brown-treated glulam, which is "currently unique on the French market".

In Vivre en Bois, PiveteauBois has a branded distribution operation too, a chain of outlets for merchants across France and its overseas territories.

"We first introduced Durapin to highlight our launch of a treated semi-finished and finished consumer range, at a time when the only treated products on the market were poles and sleepers," said Mr Piveteau. "Since then branding has continued successfully to differentiate our business and products."

Today, the company’s development and diversification strategy continues. It has its own in-house design and R&D department, with latest creations being a new spruce and Douglas fir glulam deck square, larch glulam and laminated beams and grey impregnation in cladding and decking.

Increasing Capacity
Throughput is also increasing at all the mills. Farges will reach 220,00 0m³ annual capacity in 2020, Ste-Florence and SylvaDrewno 150,000m³ in three and five years respectively. The latter will also join the French mills in having its own wood-fuelled heat and power plant within 5-10 years.

In particular, the company sees strong prospects for its Douglas fir range. Thanks to extensive planting over recent decades, the French harvest is growing rapidly. Currently 2.35 million³, it is set to rise to 6 million m³ by 2030.

"It is now the key resource for French timber construction," said Mr Piveteau. "Its mechanical properties are 20% superior to other whitewood, its naturally durable heartwood can be used for Cl3b exterior use without treatment, and the sapwood is readily treatable for outdoor applications."

The other PiveteauBois project, of course, is to cultivate a customer base in the UK and its new export manager, Elisabeth Piveteau, who has worked in London for 20 years in the patent sector, believes there is considerable potential.

"The UK construction and timber frame sectors have picked up tremendous momentum and we see it as a vibrant dynamic market which PiveteauBois is now in a position to meet as it also increasingly matches our production," she said.

Ms Piveteau described it as "surprising" that the UK currently imports so little softwood from France which, with production of 7.5 million m³ a year, is Europe’s joint fourth biggest producer with Austria.

"We need to work hard to make the UK supply and procurement chain aware of France’s resource and capacity to deliver quality softwood timber, semi-finished and finished products that meet its requirements," she said. "That’s my mission in my new role at PiveteauBois."

For more information, please contact elisabeth.piveteau@piveteau.com