Sawn timber exports also achieved a record total of 12 million m3 last year, compared with 11.4 million m3 in 2004. Of the overall amount of timber exported in 2005, 24% was delivered to non-European countries, with Japan and the US being the largest recipients.
The total value of Swedish exports of forest industry products for 2005 is estimated at SKr115, 000m, against SKr110,000m in 2004.
There were several reasons for this record level of production. The US market was very positive, largely due to building activity, which was heightened by low interest rates and generous lending conditions, and accounted for a 40% increase in Swedish timber exports to that country.
Furthermore, the European market was also very buoyant with lively construction, renovation and extensions markets.
In North Africa, another large market for the Swedish timber industry, the pressure on prices eased as large volumes of Russian timber were sold to China instead. The Swedish domestic market was also buoyant – in fact the construction industry had not shown such a high level of activity since the 1990s.
The majority of the timber felled by the storm of January 2005 – which the Swedish Forest Administration estimated at 75 million m3 – has now been cleared and is being stored in large timber terminals. The remaining timber will have to be removed before this summer or both it and the growing forest will be subjected to serious insect attack with the result that the consequences of the storm will be even greater than has been seen to date.
The Swedish government has introduced a national building in wood strategy with the aim of increasing its international standing in this field. “Sweden’s image as a renowned forest and timber country is unique and provides us with a strong incentive to achieve a leading international position in the field of building with wood,” said prime minister Göran Persson at a recent conference in Stockholm. The aim of the building with wood strategy is that: “Wood should always be considered as an option for all types of construction”.
Measures being taken to promote this strategy include stimulating timber building projects, implementing training courses and encouraging more research. A competition has been announced by Ullrica Messing, the minister responsible for forests and forestry, to encourage municipalities and building proprietors to compete with one another in their use of wood for their building projects and to boost the numbers of “technically and architecturally interesting timber buildings”. The basic criterion for all competition entries is that they must have a load-bearing wooden structure of more than two storeys.
The sort of business the initiative is targeting is Lindbäcks Bygg AB, based in Piteå in the north of Sweden. It is already benefiting from growing demand for its “industrially produced” blocks of flats and has decided to expand capacity to cope. It is investing SKr35m in new premises and machinery with the aim of doubling capacity. The company’s order book now totals SKr550m, which means that waiting time from order to delivery is one year. On some occasions, the company has had to turn work away. The new expansion, it says, should help remedy the problem.
Lyndbäcks buildings are prefabricated in the factory, complete with kitchen, bathroom, flooring in place, plus plumbing, heating and electrical installations. To date, blocks up to four storeys high have been built but the company has plans for five storey blocks. It is also working with the Luleå University of Technology to develop its construction system further.
