Södra’s 2010 target: One million hectares FSC

Feb 18 2010  Södra aims to have one million hectares of its members’ forests certified in accordance with the FSC standard by the end of 2010. This is in addition to the PEFC certification already held.

The process of signing double certification contracts with Södra members started on 1 June last year in response to growing customer demand for FSC products.

“We have had a tremendous response from our members, and we are now up in the 850,000 hectare range. It's great that it has worked out so well,” said Klara Helstad, Project Manager for Södra double certification.

No formal objective was established for the 2009 double certification program. Södra Skog aimed to pace certification to meet delivery requirements for FSC products in 2010. The strong influx of double certified members means this ambition is likely to succeed.

Ulf Edman, President of Södra Cell International, sees a growing interest in FSC pulp. “Demand is strong, and as we are now receiving the volumes of FSC pulpwood we need, we can also deliver in line with customer demand,” he said. “Demand for FSC pulp was previously strongest in England. Now it is also growing in the German-speaking countries,” he added.

There is also greater demand for the combination of FSC and TCF. But while FSC is growing steadily, most Södra Cell customers still want PEFC pulp, according to Edman: “We're in a good position as we have an interesting eco-range with FSC, PEFC and TCF,” he said. “On top of that our carbon footprints have good values. This is particularly valuable given that our latest customer survey showed the key competitive advantages in the future for many of our customers will be in the environmental area, particularly forest certification and carbon footprint.”