FEBRUARY 2018 What do THE WOOD TREND CONTINUES you know about STRONG GROWTH IN WOODEN strength? SETRA’S WOOD APARTMENT BLOCKS SCHOOL NEW INVESTMENTS BOOST SETRA’S COMPETITIVENESS The Netherlands gears up for wood Sustainability and efficiency encourage wood construction TALKING ABOUT TIMBER: What drives a private forest owner? 2 EDITORIAL NEWS 3 “THE MARKET FOR WOODEN Strong interest APARTMENT in oil from BLOCKS IS FINALLY the forest Setra’s plans to manufacture bio-oil TAKING OFF” from sawdust have attracted con- siderable interest, not least from Sweden’s Green Party, which hopes that this will pave the way for more We’re building the future projects along similar lines. The oil can be used for biofuel and aid the transi- WE’RE SEEING IT EVERYWHERE. Interest in building tion to a fossil-free transport sector. in wood is being expressed by politicians, architects, “We need to develop these new fuels if Sweden is to achieve its target municipalities, researchers and – not least – by the of zero net emissions of winter, with the submission of an construction industry itself. The market for wooden greenhouse gases by 2045,” says environmental permit application apartment blocks is finally taking off and our climate- the party’s energy spokesperson and successful trial runs by potential smart material is getting the chance to showcase its full Lise Nordin. suppliers of the technology. Sawdust potential. What we could call a wood revolution is taking The plan is to locate Setra’s bio- from the sawmill has been tested on oil plant alongside Kastet sawmill in a large scale and the properties of place not only in Sweden but around the world. A prime Gävle. The project has continued to the oil have been analysed. Follow example is the Netherlands, which we visit in this issue. move forward over the autumn and the project at www.setragroup.com Here, Heuvelman Hout planing mill has seen a marked increase in enquiries about industrial wood construction, driven by an increasingly eco-aware public. IN RECENT MONTHS, Setra has taken several strategic decisions that will make us well placed to benefit from this growth and meet our customers’ needs, both in Sweden and in our export markets. Find out more about these investments and our strategy for helping to build Did you the future on page 11. know… SETRA is entering 2018 in a strong position. We manu- factured just as many wood products in 2017 as we did the year before, despite having sold off a sawmill. In the …bioenergy is what keeps Sweden thermal energy plants and pellet autumn, we stepped up the pace of production in Malå on the move. According to Svebio, manufacturers, where they are by 20 per cent, which enables us to increase sales in biofuel accounts for 36.6 per turned into renewable energy. several key markets. Now we’re looking forward to a new cent of the country’s energy use ...by-products from the forest year in which wood continues to gain even more ground. – making it the single largest industry are the most common energy source. source of biofuel in Sweden. Enjoy the newsletter! …chips, sawdust and bark from …Setra delivers 1,800 gigawatt Setra’s sawmills and planing mills hours of bioenergy per year. That Hannele Arvonen are used to produce heat for our is enough to power 200,000 CEO own production and are sold on to apartments. SETRANEWS is Setra’s customer newsletter. It is published in TEXT: Katarina Brandt, Sofia Höglund, Anna Matzinger, Swedish and English for customers, employees and other Linn Treijs stakeholders in Sweden and abroad. The purpose of the DESIGN: Blackboard Publishing newsletter is to spread information about the company and tell readers the latest news. PRINTED BY: Åtta 45 PRINT RUN: 5,200 COVER PHOTO: Gerben Dijksman, Purchasing Manager at Heuvelman Hout planing mill in the Netherlands, with Roland ADDRESS: Setra Group, Box 3027, 169 03 Solna Persson, salesman at Setra. Photo: Magnus Laupa. TEL: +46 8-705 03 00 SUBSCRIPTION: Would you like your own personal copy of E-MAIL: [email protected] SetraNews or do you wish to unsubscribe? Do you have any EDITOR: Linn Treijs special requests about subject matter or opinions on the RESPONSIBLE PUBLISHER: Lovisa Krebs content? Go to www.setragroup.com/setranews to get in touch. NEWS 3 NEW FACES Prestigious honour HANNELE ARVONEN, Setra’s CEO, has been elected a member of the Forest Technology division at the Royal Swedish Academy of Engineering Sciences (IVA). IVA is an independ- ent academy with around 1,300 Swedish and international members whose mission is to promote the engineering and economic sciences The Museum of Artistic Process and Public Art in Lund and the advancement of business and industry. Members are elected for their outstanding contribution in Top awards for wooden buildings the academy’s field of expertise. Successful projects were a major feature of Lund with its wood interior, picture above. The November’s Architecture Gala 2017, run by Housing Prize was awarded to the Trädgårdarna industry body Architects Sweden. The spotlight nursing home in Örebro, which makes extensive was firmly on wood, largely because a number use of blond wood. The prestigious Ralph Erskine of wooden buildings took home some of the top Award also went to a wooden building – a social awards. The Kasper Salin Prize went to the centre at a refugee camp in the German city of Museum of Artistic Process and Public Art in Mannheim. Mill Manager “There’s something so ADRIAN ERIKSSON is the new Mill fantastic about wood. Manager at Setra Skinnskatteberg. Adrian was formerly the Mill Manager Everyone knows that if you at Martinsons’ sawmill in Hällnäs push a drill into the wall or and has held many other leading floor, it makes a hole. And positions in the industry over his long career, ranging from wood you can push in a wooden companies such as Martinsons plug and hey, you’ve fixed and SCA to NCC and Volvo. the hole. That immediacy is what I love about wood” Architect Gert Wingårdh talks about his love of wood in Swedish Wood’s digital calendar New app simplifies celebrating 50 years of the Swedish Timber Prize. Watch the clip, more wood construction interviews with leading The Trärådhuset app is described figures in wood and a look by Swedish Wood as an interactive back at the greatest wooden house where tradesmen and skilled Mill Manager buildings in Sweden at DIYers can obtain advice on their JAN-ERIK JOHANSSON-VIK has www.svenskttra.se. building projects and help with every- been Mill Manager in Heby since thing from structures and dimensions November. Jan-Erik has experience to material choices and design. of improvement work and leader- In autumn 2017, Trärådhuset ship, first in the steel industry and gained new functions for planning later as a consultant in a range of permission, garden buildings, different sectors. His jobs have dimensions and quality. The app, included improving productivity at which works on smartphones and Setra’s various units, plus assign- tablets, is simple for builders to ments for Karl Hedin, Norrskog, Photo: Karström Jacob use out on site. Holmen and others. 4 OUTLOOK GOOD PROSPECTS FOR 2018 Photo: LEVER Architecture Photo: White Arkitekter Homebuilding is currently taking off in the massive US market, where wood is also breaking new ground. The Framework apartment block in Portland is set to be the country’s tallest wooden skyscraper. Forecasts indicate that consumption of wood products is set to rise next year. Coupled with a more modest increase in production and a better balance between supply and demand, this paints a very positive picture of the prospects for the wood industry. IF WE BEGIN WITH a global overview, we are seeing Nevertheless, we expect imports to rise slightly in a growing trend for consumption of wood products 2018, mainly due to Algeria lifting its ban on imports more or less across the board. Of course there are of wood products, which was introduced in April market variations, but in most areas we are seeing 2017, combined with low Russian volumes in the positive and steady growth from what are already area. good levels. In Europe, construction is increasing in almost US market of considerable interest every market. Overall consumption is expected to The USA is one of the markets we are most inter- rise from 81.6 million m3 in 2017 to 82.4 million m3 ested in over the next year. Levels of homebuilding in 2018. In the European market, the big question remain well below actual demographic needs, but mark hanging over 2018 is the outcome of Brexit we are seeing strong indications that the figures negotiations. No-one knows how they will turn out, are beginning to return to the level seen before the but it is reasonable to believe that the latter part of financial crisis in 2008. If the increase is of the 2018 in particular may be a period of considerable magnitude forecast, Canada, the largest exporter to uncertainty. the USA, will have difficulty meeting demand. This opens up opportunities for other export countries Turbulence in the Middle East and we believe there is significant potential for good In Asia, the 2018 forecast predicts stable consump- growth in the US market. tion in Japan and strong growth in China. Imports of Having looked at consumption, the forecasts sawn softwood products have risen sharply in China for global production must also be factored in. The since 2012, and in 2017 Russia was the main ben- trend suggests a 2.2 per cent rise in total produc- eficiary of the continuing trend.