Sweden’s sawn softwood production reached an all-time high of 1.3 million m³ in 2000 and over the past five years production has increased by around 7%.
Sawmills with output of more than 5,000m3 produced 15.9 millions m3, or about 97% of production, while those producing between 1,000-5,000m3 accounted for 200,000m3, or 1.2%, of output. The smallest sawmills, producing under 1,000m3, contributed 300,000m3 or 1.8%.
Softwood accounts for more than 98% of Swedish output and, although hardwood makes a much smaller contribution, 34% of output is produced by smaller mills.
The number of sawmills in Sweden is diminishing: during the past five years 61 sawmills with a production of more than 5,000m3 ceased trading, which equates to decrease of around 20%. The corresponding figure for 1990-1995 was 4%. There are, of course, exceptions to this trend as larger sawmills have recently invested in value-added production. Today there are 245 sawmills with an annual production of more than 5,000m3 compared with 306 sawmills in 1995. There are 80 sawmills producing 1,000-5,000m3, which means a reduction of 30 sawmills. The number of sawmills producing 25-1,000m3 is estimated at around 1,600.
The number of sawmills has decreased, but the remaining sawmills have a larger production. Sawmills with production of more than 100,000m3 corresponds to 50% of production and have increased from 33 sawmills to 48 sawmills. Together with the sawmills producing 50,000-100,000m3, this group of large sawmills produces 80% of the total production. The average production per mill, with a production of more than 5,000m3, has increased from 23,000m3 in 1973 to 65,000m3 today.
Forest companies with their own sawmills, and sawmills integrated with the fibre industry, account for 22% of production, while forest owner associations contribute 12% and the private mills 66%.
Since the last sawmill survey in 1995, private sawmills have focused more on co-operation and joint activities.
