Swedish forest owners association Södra has announced that it will make "extensive investments" in its sawmill at Värö, southwest Sweden.
"We can now see that our investment in the cross-laminated (CLT) facility will also make it possible for us to improve the flow and customer offering for our sawn timber, and have therefore decided to make additional investments in Värö,” said Jörgen Lindquist, President of the Södra Wood business area.
According to a statement, the investments, the value of which have not been disclosed, will mainly be focused on final trimming and drying capacity, but also to some extent on log sorting as well as sawing and green sorting.
In April last year, we announced our plans to build a cross-laminated timber (CLT) facility at Värö. We can now see that our investment in the CLT facility will also make it possible for us to improve the flow and customer offering for our sawn timber, and have therefore decided to make additional investments in Värö. We believe in Värö and are very satisfied with the profitability trend in recent years. The investment will increase capacity, enable us to grow with our customers and strengthen competitiveness, said Jörgen Lindquist, President of the Södra Wood business area.
Other benefits will be more stable and higher quality products, since an automatic grading system will be installed for the sideboards, instead of today’s manual sorting. Investment will also be made in increased drying capacity, which will improve the drying quality and lead to a better product.
We will also be able to offer a higher proportion of planed products from Värö. That is positive because we see continued growth in the market for processed products. In turn, that will also provide opportunities for higher pellet volumes, said Jörgen Lindquist.
When investments in the production of CLT at Värö are completed, Södra will be one of the leading players in solid construction timber in the Nordic region.
