Forest Products Industry

Ponsse is presenting new features to support forest machine operators’ daily work and to assist forestry entrepreneurs to follow up on the fleet’s profitability and productivity: the PONSSE Scale crane system, which manages load data during all working stages, and the PONSSE High-Precision Positioning solution, which helps the machine operator know the exact location of the machine and the harvester head. Source: Timberbiz Ponsse is the first forest machine manufacturer in the world to show a part of forest machine made of SSAB fossil-free steel. At its Vieremä factory the company has manufactured the Buffalo forwarder´s load space of SSAB fossil free steel. This is a material concept to invest in the workability, behaviour and characteristics of the new material used in forest machine manufacturing. The load space is designed only for material testing and does not correspond to production models. The material concept is part of the FORWARD27 ecosystem project. PONSSE Scale is a crane scale system that weighs, sorts, saves and manages load data during all working stages. The collected weighing data makes load handling routines easier. Precise weight measurements ensure an optimal load at all times. It features full weighing automation during both loading and unloading, with detailed load registration. Whether loads are grabbed in the middle or off-centre does not affect the weight result. Load details, load logbooks and measuring accuracy data are available in easy-to-read reports. PONSSE Scale has excellent weather resistance, with accurate results in both hot summer temperatures and winter’s sub-zero temperatures. PONSSE Scale can be installed in all PONSSE forwarder loader models. PONSSE High-Precision Positioning is a solution that helps the machine operator know the exact location of the machine and the harvester head. This enables the effectiveness of logging operations to be maintained, even in changing conditions. Utilising industry-leading navigation and location tools, as well as Ponsse’s own advanced technologies such as Active Crane, High-Precision Positioning can raise the reliability bar to a level conventional positioning systems often don’t reach. By defining the exact location of the harvester head and presenting it on a map view, High-Precision Positioning can significantly improve harvesting productivity. The solution clearly shows where the operator should harvest and the areas that should be avoided. Every stump location is saved in the production file, and the driving path the harvester creates is clearly visible to the forwarder.

A new manifesto from the timber industries calls for the next Government to unlock a wave of sustainable timber construction. Source: TTJ online Published by the Confederation of Timber Industries (CTI), an alliance of associations from across the UK timber supply chain including Timber Development UK, the manifesto outlines the quick policy wins which could help support the rapid growth of a low-carbon built environment. The timber industry in the UK contributes more than £10bn to the economy, is home to more than 51,000 businesses, and directly employs more than 300,000 people in green jobs. A few small policy changes could provide a pathway for rapid growth, according to the Timber in Construction Manifesto. “Over the past five years, there has been some incredible work by our colleagues from all of the built environment professions to lay the groundwork for a switch to more sustainable forms of construction,” says CTI Chair, Alex Goodfellow. “The construction industry is ahead of the regulation, with existing capacity and expertise to rapidly scale up low-carbon, high-quality, and safe use of timber in construction – as has long been recommended by the Climate Change Committee – within the right policy framework.” “With this manifesto we wanted to provide references for the next Government of the key policies – like Part Z, an amendment to the building regulations to include embodied carbon –which they could put in place in their first 100 days to get Britain building.” “The core policies we included, whether boosting sustainable construction, enabling retrofit, or scaling up housebuilding – are all independently conceived. They focus on providing a level playing field for businesses to compete to build homes, while ensuring the UK can meet its legal commitment to reduce carbon emissions.” The manifesto’s core policy recommendations are entirely material neutral, but the CTI believes in timber frame construction’s ability to compete. Other manifesto points include policy calls to support businesses in the timber industry and scale up tree planting, as well as sharing examples of how timber is prepared to provide solutions today. These includes long standing timber frame solutions, and approaches like Optoppen, adding timber floors to existing buildings, and new sustainable developments, like the Phoenix in Lewes, CTI is strongly encouraging the industry, and anyone interested in a sustainable future to contact their local MP and tell them about the manifesto. For more information visit: TTJ online https://www.ttjonline.com/

Felling in Swedish forests decreased by 6% in 2023 to just under 90 million cubic meters, according to the Norwegian Forestry Agency’s preliminary statistics. Harvesting has not been this low in seven years and thus the upward trend of recent years was also broken. Source: Timberbiz According to the Forestry Agency’s preliminary statistics, the gross felling in 2023 amounted to 89.6 million cubic meters (cubic meters of forest), to be compared with 2022 when felling landed at 95.0 million cubic meters. The reason for the reduction is mainly a reduced demand in the wood-consuming industry, especially in the sawmill industry. The reduced production in the sawmills meant that the felling of sawn timber decreased by 10% in 2023, according to Jonas Paulsson, statistician at the Norwegian Forestry Agency. In the years 2021 and 2022, record fellings were noted, if you ignore 2005 and 2007 when fellings were very high due to the storms Gudrun and Per. The trend with high felling levels was thus broken in 2023 with a reduced felling. The reduction was so great that you need to go back to 2016 to find a lower level. The reduction was noticeable in all parts of the country. In Norra Norrland and Södra Norrland felling fell by 7%, in Svealand by 6% and in Götaland by 5%. Most of it was harvested in Västra Götaland County. There, felling in 2023 was 8.2 million cubic meters, which was 9 percent of the total felling in the country. Felling was also large in Värmland County, where 8.0 million cubic meters were felled. Barely 2% of Swedish felling was exported in 2023. Exports decreased in 2023, from 2.0 million cubic meters in 2022 to a preliminary 1.3 million cubic meters in 2023. In 2023, imports of roundwood amounted to a preliminary 7.3 million cubic meters, which is around 0, 8 million cubic meters more than the year before. Spruce makes up more than half of the felled volume, pine a third and hardwoods around a tenth. About 68% of the felled volume comes from final felling, 22% from thinning and the rest from other felling. The average final felling for fellings larger than 0.5 hectares amounted to 3.6 hectares in 2022. The size of the final harvests was on average more than twice as large in Norra Norrland (5.6 hectares) as in Götaland (2.5 hectares). The average area in final felling for individual forest owners is approximately 40% smaller than that of other forest owners.