COMPANY FOCUS
The SP 591 LX is sold with the Timberpro TL725
New partnerships, next generation Given the growth of eucalyptus harvesting and SP’s ability to manufacturer the industry’s only purpose-built eucalyptus head, one would assume that this market makes up the largest component of SP’s recent growth and that in its predicted numbers. But it doesn’t. The eucalyptus sector of SP’s business has
grown to an impressive 20% of all sales but that is unlikely to increase. You see, the company’s other product sectors are also starting to register significant growth in sales and there are new heads on their way out the door shortly that could command market share in new regions. “All sectors for us have been growing,”
Gannerud said. “We have increased sales a lot in the last two years across the board.” The growth in sales for Europe has come
largely through partnerships with major machine harvester manufacturers – Komatsu and Rottne. SP builds the Komatsu 340, which is based on the SP 451 LF model but is varied in line with certain specifications made by the Japanese group and is branded Komatsu. This head is sold on the Komatsu thinning machine, the 901TX. Rottne has also decided to offer SP heads on their carriers. For example on its latest release, the H11 harvester, the company is only offering it with an SP head, either the SP 451 LF or SP 561 LF, which has translated directly into increased sales.
“We’ve established ourselves with these two
large machine manufacturers and that has given us a very good volume base for our sales.” The Komatsu and Rottne contracts add to an existing relationship with Gremo (also owned by Weland), which has been successfully using SP heads for a long time. Other machine manufacturers using SP heads on their carriers are ProfiPro and Tigercat, while Timberpro has become a partner recently with the installation of the SP 591 LX for carriers destined for the Southern Hemisphere. Gannerud said it should be clear to everyone that the OEM sector was a key for SP in establishing a good base volume of sales, while also serving as evidence that the company made heads of quality capable of high productivity.
As for the next phase of growth, he said SP
was moving strongly in several directions across the globe. “On the export side, the growth in the coming years will definitely be in the eucalyptus markets all over the world. We have heads in Spain, Portugal, Australia, Chile, South Africa, Uruguay, Argentina and Brazil – we have heads in all key markets. “But we’re also working on new projects.
We have a new head to be released next year designed for the North American and Russian markets, which are both volume markets. We expect a lot of growth in those two markets as well.” The inventor of the single grip head is back at the forefront of development where it belongs. SP will be a name hard to escape as eucalyptus plantations continue to grow, as North America recovers and as Russia continues its emergence as a manageable place to do business. IFI
SP 451 LF on the new Rottne H11 OCTOBER/NOVEMBER 2011 | International Forest Industries 19
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