Summary
¦ Ireland has three mid-sized sawmills.
¦ They each produce around 100,000m³ of fencing, decking and pallet wood per year.
¦ Each mill is committed to exporting products to the UK.
¦ Diversification includes pellet and bark mulch production.
Ireland’s three mid-sized sawmills are facing the challenge of the spiralling log prices that are going hand in hand with tight supply, exacerbated by overcapacity in the primary processing sector.
“Log prices have doubled in the last six months and are now 50-60% over [Coillte’s] reserve,” said Michael Lynne, COFORD chairman and finance director of Co Wicklow-based Woodfab Timber Ltd.
Competition in the fortnightly Coillte electronic log auctions is now so fierce that individual sawmills can’t guarantee their bids will be successful and it’s a constant challenge to marry the price they pay for the logs with providing their customers with a value product.
However, while Irish sawmills are finding the going tough, they remain committed to serving the UK market – and they aren’t afraid of diversification.
Product range
Woodfab Timber and Co Laois-based Coolrain Sawmills Ltd and Laois Sawmills Ltd occupy similar positions within Ireland’s sawmilling sector. Each turns over around 100,000m³ per year and each specialises in fencing, decking and pallet wood.
Demand from across the Irish Sea is good and Woodfab exports around 65% of its sawn product to the UK, while for Laois and Coolrain the figures are 40% and 80% respectively.
Sawn goods are very far from the whole story, however. Woodfab is the past master of diversification and on maximising the value of the small log – it was the first sawmill in Ireland to install a small chipping line for small logs, for example.
Its divisions include East Log Harvesting, which sources logs for its own use and for third parties, and Forwood, which works in partnership with Forestry Services Ltd providing a full service to farmers, planting trees for them and marketing their products. Woodfab Structures produces acoustic roadside barriers for the Irish market.
Pellets and bark production
Over in Portlaoise, Coolrain and Laois Sawmills have diversified in different, but mutually beneficial directions. Laois installed a €4.8m pellet manufacturing facility last year, producing 17,000 tonnes of pellets in the last 12 months. Of this, 2,000 tonnes were bagged and the hope is that in future these will find a market in the UK.
“It’s been a challenging year with the pellets but we do feel there is a future in it,” said general manager Rory Roberts. “While pellets are a diversification, we are also committed to continue to increase our exports of fencing and pallets to the UK, too.”
Laois uses its own sawdust to manufacture the pellets and also buys it in from third parties, including neighbouring Coolrain. Coolrain, in its turn, takes Laois’s bark to feed its own bark mulching facility.
Coolrain’s state-of-the-art bark mulching plant is the largest of its type in Ireland. The product range includes mini-chip, fine and medium-chip bark, which is sold loose, or bagged in bulk and smaller 75L bags.
“Last year we bagged 20,000 tonnes,” said director Declan Hutchinson, “but we need to grow our customer base and we’re actively looking for resellers in the UK market.” He added that DIY outlets were prime targets.
The three sawmills agree on the importance of the UK market to their businesses. “We want to export,” said Rory Roberts. “UK customers can rest assured we aren’t going away and we can stand over our volumes.”
