timber news 3/2009 - SCA Forest Products AB

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In new postsLars-Erik Jönsson, Sawmill managerat Jämtlamell Sawmill.Lars-Erik, formerly site manager,has taken over as sawmill managerat Jämtlamell Sawmill.Faster loadingat SCA’s portsPhoto: Ingrid LöfqvistBy increasing the loading capacity at SCA’s ports by up to 75 percent, more goodscan be dispatched on fewer ships, thereby reducing costs.“We’ve become faster and more efficient,” summarises Lars Norberg, LogisticsManager at SCA Timber.For several years, Norberg has workedtirelessly to increase the capacity ofSCA’s ports: Holmsund, Rundvik, Bollsta,Lugnvik, Sundsvall and Tunadal.The aim has been to ensure that, overtime, all ports will be in a position to handlea loading capacity of at least 300 cubicmetres per hour.“It was felt that we needed to conduct athorough review of procedures,” says Norberg.By regularly measuring port capacity, clearstatistics have been produced, making iteasier to get an overview of the long-termimprovement potential. The results of thesemeasurements have subsequently been discussedand analysed in a series of workingparties. Work times, internal communicationand management are just a few examplesof the issues addressed.“There’s no magic involved in our work,”says Norberg. “Quite the opposite, in fact.It’s simply a matter of openness and anexchange of experience, and accepting thepossibility of changing and developingoperations.”Through clarity and focus on the issue athand – making SCA’s ports more efficientand attractive to external agents and shippinglines – this ‘joined-up’ approach hassucceeded in improving loading capacityby between 50 percent and 75 percent,depending on the port.Less time in port equals lower costs andincreased competitiveness.“As in all periods of change, it’simportant that there’s also a change in attitude,”says Norberg and gives everyoneinvolved a big pat on the back for theirefforts.“Provided everyone realises that wemust save money and become more attractiveso that we don’t lose volume andthereby work opportunities, we will beable to achieve further major improvements,”he says.Mats WigardtStefan Wiklund, product managerat Jämtlamell Sawmill.Stefan, formerly assistant productmanager, has taken over as productmanager at Jämtlamell Sawmill.Anders Andersson, assistant productmanager at Tunadal Sawmill.Anders was most recently sitemanager at AB Norrby Såg. Hesucceeds Lena Larsson, who hasretired.timbernews | 10
Order SCA Timber’sProduct catalogueThe SCA Timber Product cataloguegives a comprehensive presentation ofSCA Timber’s range of products, fromsawn standard products to processed solidwood products in both the Living-with-Wood and Building-with-Wood areas ofuse.The Product catalogue is available inEnglish and can be ordered through yourlocal SCA representative or direct viaingrid.lofqvist@sca.com. The catalogueis also available as a downloadable PDFfile from www.scatimber.com.Cutbacks in European production result ina dearth of sawn solid wood productsAfter a turbulent winter characterisedby the effects of the global financialcrisis, the market underwent radicalchange during Q2. Until the middleof March, the inflow of orders wasquite sluggish. Since then, however,demand for sawmill products hasgradually increased to a level wherewe no longer have the capacity to offera full range.During the past year, profitability inthe industry has been very weak,which has led to extensive productioncutbacks, particularly productionoriginating in the Eurozone.Between January and May, Europeanproduction was at 70 percent of the peakyear of 2007. This fall-off is so extensivethat prices are now rising rapidly, theresult of which is that production levelsare gradually starting to increase again.The financial crisis is having a significantnegative impact on residential andother types of new builds. This affectsboth construction companies and theirsubcontractors, e.g. the joinery industry.Customers’ profitability has been weakenedmarkedly, increasing the risk of sawmillslosing business.All major markets are reporting fallingfigures for the new build sector. Manyforecasts for this sector indicate thatvolumes will be two-thirds down onthose of recent years. Examples of suchforecasts include construction forecastspublished by the Swedish National Boardof Housing, Building and Planning andthe UK’s Construction Products Association.What’s important to remember, however,is that consumption of wood-relatedproducts in Europe is primarily linked tothe renovation, maintenance and conversionsector. Renovation is not monitoredto the same extent as new builds, whichis why these figures are not as readilyavailable. In our opinion, which is partlybased on SCA Timber’s business tobuilder’s merchants and outlets in the UKand Scandinavia, we in this importantsector will be experiencing a decline ofonly 5–10 percent.Production is now increasing again fromthe very low level during the winter andspring. The biggest problems are currentlybeing faced by the Finnish, Germanand Austrian industries, which are hamperedby a strong Euro and the need tokeep the cost of logs at reasonable levels.Russian production will continue toremain low due to a number of internalproblems primarily linked to the supplyof logs. However, Sweden will probablybe up to full production during theautumn. In my opinion, production levels(measured as an annual rate) for Europeas a whole will be down 10 percent duringthe autumn compared to 2008 (asagainst being down 30 percent during thespring). This reduction is on a par withreduced consumption and should constitutea sufficient limitation to balancesupply and demand.The price of sawn solid wood productsgrew rapidly during the latter part of thespring. Since March, the price of pine hasincreased by approximately 30 percentand spruce by approximately 20 percent.This improvement stems from lowerproduction. Following a further marginalincrease in prices during late summer, itis likely that the situation will remainrelatively stable for the rest of the year.The current increase in production willlimit these price spikes as consumptioncontinues to be weak as a result of thefinancial crisis.Anders Ek, Marketing Director, SCA Timber11 | timbernews
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timber news 3/2009 - SCA Forest Products AB

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