Above: Investment underlines longer term industry confidence PHOTO: SCA
finalised in November and make sure to not unnecessarily jeopardise the US market from important supplies of sawnwood.” This did not entirely allay European sawnwood producers’ concerns, however, he added.
“Considering that Canada over the last decade has faced tariffs ranging from 15-40%, it was unclear if sawnwood tariffs [on] US imports from Europe could actually become higher after the November investigation,” said Mr Nielsen.
As of the joint statement from the US and EU on August 21 much of the uncertainty has been resolved.
“The US has agreed that sawnwood from the EU will be subject to a 15% tariff ceiling as applied to other products, and this is [generally regarded] as good news for European sawmillers,” said Mr Nielsen. “The uncertainty was hurting the markets more than any actual potential tariffs would. Also, with the 15% tariff level being significantly lower than that applied to Canadian suppliers for the last decade, it can be expected that the majority of the cost will be carried by the American consumer.”
Some concerns remain, however. These include how tariffs could potentially harm the US economy and decrease total sawnwood demand.
“There is also the consideration of how the global trade environment is moving away generally from free trade and internationalisation, which has already left its mark on other international trade relations,” said Mr Nielsen.
As for the immediate outlook for the industry, it looks less positive than it did in the spring. “At this point much comes down to what can be expected from the global economy and what the impact will be from an increasingly tense global trade situation with trade conflicts and uncertainty,” said Mr Nielsen. “From a Swedish perspective it’s important to
see the European economies and markets pick up, and especially how the UK construction sector develops, which will be an important indicator for what can be expected by the Swedish sawnwood industry through the rest of the year into 2026.” However, longer term, he said, there are grounds for greater positivity. “Although cost levels remain high and sawmills are struggling to remain profitable, despite slow demand sawnwood prices are fairly strong compared to before the pandemic,” said Mr Nielsen. “I believe this is an indication that we are now taking the first few steps towards the expected future balance, with a globally constrained timber supply and growing demand.”
That would be essentially good for Swedish and other European sawmills.
“Increasing global demand for sawnwood, while supply remains stable, or in many regions decreases, leads to a future of higher competition for available sawnwood sources,” said Mr Nielsen.
INDUSTRY INVESTMENT
Among the businesses investing in this bolder future are SCA, which in late 2023 unveiled a new trimming line at its Bollsta sawmill, installed at a cost of SEK750m (€66.75m). The line features five robot handling devices and other ‘digital tools,’ plus advanced X-ray technology to explore logs in 3D. The new technology will boost throughput from 500,000m3
to 700,000m3 per year.
In 2024, Norra Timber spent SEK400m on new X-ray technology at its Sävar and Kåge mills, capable of examining a log every two seconds. The primary purpose of the technology would be to link production data to each log, but the company says it will also enhance its timber traceability performance. “If something goes wrong in production, we can, by mapping all the planks, easily go back to see where,” said Norra Timber. “We can also see how much energy was used for
each product and thus have better cost and environmental control.”
And it goes further than this, with each log possibly being given an ID number. “Traceability and information about the wood’s environmental impact will be a competitive advantage and [this investment] will be a driving force for us to work more on how we can enhance our capabilities in this respect,” said industrial manager Henrik Jönsson.
Norra Timber parent Norra Skog also recently announced investment of SEK100m to boost the output of its Hissmofors mill by 10,000m3
a year.
At its Edane mill, Moelven is investing in new channel dryers, a new saw line, new timber sorting and new facilities for further processing of construction wood. It forms, says the company, part of a competitiveness drive and a strategy to “make Moelven Scandinavia’s leading manufacturer and distributor of construction wood”. At the Hilmer Andersson mill in Lässerud, SEK40m new kilns are intended to give the business added flexibility, while lowering energy consumption and enabling the facility to reduce waste. They will boost mill annual drying capacity to 300,000m3
.
Derome Timber has spent over SEK600m upgrading its plant to support “more sustainable and competitive timber building”. “With increased demand for wooden houses and building materials with low climate footprints, competition for raw material is becoming greater,” said CEO Linda Andersson. “That is why we strive to maximise the value of the raw material.
“With our new saw line, we are increasing production capacity while increasing the yield of boards from each log. This is good for both the climate and the economy. If everyone in Sweden sawed each log uniquely the way we do, we could build 30,000 more wooden houses with the same amount of raw material.” ■
www.ttjonline.com | September/October 2025 | TTJ
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