Figures for the first nine months of 2006 show that Sweden exported over 9.8 million m3 of sawn and planed timber, which was an increase of 10.1% over the same period for the previous year. The biggest importer of Swedish processed wood products was the UK at 2.3 million m3, which is equivalent to 23.6% of total exports. The sawmill industry has had a very positive year in 2006 and is looking forward to an even better one in 2007.
However, the industry is not without its problems. The most immediate one in recent months has been in transporting the timber to the sawmills. Despite the strong demand for timber, due to a shortage of raw material, some sawmills have had to cut production. The mild weather in recent months has meant that, in many places, the forest roads cannot support the heavy timber lorries and, as a result, some timber that has been felled has had to be left at the roadside.
Another major problem faced by the industry, which is also due to the warm weather to a large extent, is the prevalence of bark beetles. In certain areas they have increased by 500% this year and in total they have attacked 1.5 million m3 of forest. Furthermore it has been calculated that, if nothing is done, three to five million m3 of standing forest risks being attacked by these beetles next spring.
A development in company ownership has been announced by the Finnish company Metsäliitto, which accepted a bid for its majority shareholding in Moelven from the Norwegian energy company Eidsiva Energi AS and five Norwegian forest owners’ associations. Moelvenhas 11 sawmills in Norway and eight in Sweden and it is this latter fact and the potential for rationalisation of Swedish sawmill operations that created interest in the sale.
Metsäliitto has also sold 4,800ha of forest in Latvia to Södra. Earlier this year Södra acquired 5,000ha of forest in Estonia from Metsäliitto. Södra had previously been operating in Latvia through the wood handling company Sodra Latvia.
Sveaskog has been selling forest land to forest owners and private individuals in the country – a total of 927 forest properties – since 2002, covering a total area of 147,600 ha. This is equivalent to 3.4% of Sveaskog’s holdings but is also equivalent to 30-40% of all forest land in Sweden that changed hands at market prices. The total raised by these sales of Sveaskog forest amounts to Skr1,957m.
VIDA has decided to invest Skr50-60m in its Vida Bruza mill in Hjältevad. This will cover the timber intake, three-dimensional infeed and raw material sorting. As a result, production will increase from approximately 110,000m3 to 185,000m3. This investment, which should be completed before this summer, is the first stage in a larger investment over three to five years.
Alternative harvesting
An alternative method of harvesting trees to the current predominant method of clear felling is to be evaluated. Skogsstyrelsen (the Swedish Forest Agency), in conjunction with Sveaskog, is to evaluate continuity forestry. This method involves selecting trees for felling based on certain criteria to avoid large open areas in conjunction with harvesting. The result can be a forest comprised of trees of various ages and of different heights and volumes.
Some maintain that this type of forestry can provide the same financial results as clear felling and can even provide better profitability. Furthermore, it is claimed that it is more beneficial to plant and animal life in the forests. This method is not new to Sweden but the system of clear felling, followed by replanting, has been the dominant one.
Three trial areas in Oskarshamn, Östesund and Gällivare will be subjected to continuity forestry and the results evaluated. Skogsstyrelsen’s personnel will carry out evaluations and simulations and analyse the results. If the trials show that this method is more remunerative then it will provide an interesting option to the present method. However, irrespective of the result, there are areas where continuity forestry could be a suitable method to use. Examples are where forests are close to towns and other municipal areas, or where tourism is to be considered, or valuable natural areas that are not covered by other types of protection.
