Södra’s sawmills have low inventory levels after a challenging forestry year
The flow of sawlogs from Södra’s members’ forests has been slower than normal for the time of year. After a wet autumn, which makes it tricky for forestry operations, and the bark beetle which has necessitated pre-emptive final felling during the last few years, stocks at our sawmills are seasonally quite low.
With demand relatively weak, the result is a balanced supply/demand situation, but how is Södra ensuring that balance doesn’t tip over into shortage when demand picks up?
“Members are planting the forest and focusing on that. Final harvesting for them is a lower priority than management and thinning right now,” says Kim Gunnarsson, Wood Manager at Södra Skog. “We normally build up stocks in the autumn but despite log prices being at an attractive level for forest owners, the flow of logs has been slower than normal.”
Notified Area increased by 1 percent (84ha) up to October 2022
Compared to 2021, the notifications decreased by 10 percent (738ha)
In these circumstances, Södra benefits from its cooperative structure and the close connection it has with the raw material through its members. “We are in close contact with members to do our best to keep the mills supplied. Other companies have had to import from outside Sweden, but we have been able to rely on our own resources and we feel confident long term.”
Another initiative to reward members not only for keeping the timber pipeline full but doing so in an environmentally-sustainable way, is the Nature Conservation Premium (see box below).
Nature Conservation Premium
We tend to think of the forest as a sensory space – to hear the wind in the trees and the birds nesting, to feel the mossy ground bounce beneath our feet as we seek shade or berries or mushrooms. The forest is all these things but also much more. When managed sustainably, it is the source of renewable solutions for a fossil-free future. At Södra, economics and sustainability go hand in hand. Working forests, well cared for. help promote biodiversity. It’s why we offer our members a Nature Conservation Premium. We pay more for their wood if they set aside more than five per cent of their land for nature conservation. Payment increases in line with the amount of forest land preserved.
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