Moelven has entered into a cooperation agreement with SCA to deliver pellets from Moelven’s new pellet factory.

The collaboration will provide the Swedish group SCA with a long-term and exclusive supply agreement of 80,000 tonne per annum, which is the entire production volume from Moelven Pellet’s factory in Sokna, Norway.

“This is a massive agreement for Pellets, a company that will first start its operations in the fall of 2019. We are proud to become a supplier to such an experienced group with exciting ambitions regarding renewable energy. This agreement also shows that the company ventured into the pellet market at the right time with our energy-efficient and innovative pellet plant,” says CEO Lars Storslett.

Moelven is a Scandinavian industrial group that produces building products and systems for the construction industry.

JoeScan’s latest JS-50 sawmill scanner keeps impressing. After a successful run of spring tradeshows, the Vancouver, Washington based company is preparing for a busy summer of travel with their new device.

“We got a lot of great feedback from mill owners at the Southeastern Lumber Manufacturers Association spring meeting and the Hardwood Manufacturers Association annual conference,” says JoeScan president Joey Nelson. “Sawmills love the idea of having a single scanner model for their entire line. It really simplifies things for management and employees.”

The next big show for JoeScan is LIGNA. In Germany they will be unveiling a new transverse demo of the JS-50.

“People got to see the JS-50 scan logs at TP&EE in Portland last year,” Nelson adds. “We’re already known for lineal and log scanning, so the chance to show off the performance for trimmers and transverse edgers is a great step forward for us. This really is a scanner that can do it all for sawmills.”

“We’ve made it a big priority to get out there and have conversations with the sawmills that are using our products,” Nelson says. “We only make scanners for sawmills, so their input is invaluable to us. It’s these relationships that allow us to generate innovations like the features in the JS-50.”

Stop by and say hello at any of the above shows this year, and you will get the chance to influence the next big sawmill scanning improvement from JoeScan.

BSc Tommi Ekman, 44, has been appointed Logset Oy´s CEO and will start in his new position in late 2019. Ekman comes to Logset from John Deere Forestry Oy, where he has worked as General Manager, Marketing & Order Fulfillment. Ekman has 19 years of experience from different demanding tasks within the global forest machine industry and he has worked several years for John Deere and Waratah Forestry Attachment.

I’ve been following the good development of Logset for a while. When they contacted me, I didn’t hesitate to seize the opportunity. Logset’ s leadership in hybrid technology, its investments in distribution, and its modern, high-end products convinced me that the company can reach its growth goals. I want to contribute to the growth process with my own experience and energy, says the future CEO.

With Tommi Ekman, we will have a real forest machine man in the company management. The Board of Directors was convinced by his solid experience of different demanding tasks in the industry. Tommi can increase our competence and expertise in all our business areas and operations, and his positive energy makes him easy to follow as a leader, says Chairman of the Board Tapio Nikkanen.

Logset Oy will establish a subsidiary named Logset Inc. in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada in May 2019. The new office base will offer sales help and technical support to Logset dealers based in North and South America, Japan and Australia. Through Logset Inc., the company can work in the same time zone as the dealers.

In the beginning, Logset will send three people to work for Logset Inc.: Pascal Réty, Vice President of Sales and Marketing (acting as a CEO for Logset Inc.), Jari-Pekka Ylikoski, Technical Support and Johanna Sereda, Administrative Coordinator. Réty and Ylikoski will start working from the new office in June 2019. Johanna will follow a few months later.

We sell Logset products through our dealers around the world and we will continue with the same strategy with Logset Inc. We are going to work hard to increase the support for our dealers. Our aim is to grow together, says Réty.

Logset has sold machines in Canada since 2002. In 2010, Logset signed a dealer agreement with the current dealer LN Machinerie, based in the Quebec province. In 2017, Logset made important dealer agreements with Fabick CAT and Milton CAT in the U.S. The Fabick CAT territory includes the entire state of Wisconsin and the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, as well as major parts of Missouri and Illinois. The Milton CAT territory consists of New England and upstate New York.

Logset has sold machines in Brazil through its current dealer Minusa, located in Lages, Santa Catarina. In the beginning of 2018, the Logset dealer network grew also in Brazil with the new dealer Pesa CAT.

Establishing a subisidiary closer to the new dealers in North and South America is a logical next step for Logset.

North and South America are potential growth areas for us. Establishing a subsidiary is a commitment and an investment from Logset. We chose Ontario, Canada as the best base for Logset Inc. because it is located between our three dealers in North America, Réty explains.

In 2018, Logset Oy’s turnover grew to a record level of 40.128 million euros (2017: 30.922 million euros) and the operating profit to 1,671 million euros (2017: 0,935 million euros). The strongest growth came from the Russian and South American markets.

Komatsu Forest makes one of its biggest investments ever and it will take place in Umeå, Sweden. It will be a future-proof factory in large format, with a focus on sustainable production.

The new factory will be built on the industrial area Klockarbäcken in the outskirts of the city and the company has done a thorough feasibility study to assess the entire project, including construction and transfer of operations while keeping the high productivity levels intact.

The start of construction is estimated to be May 2019 and the plan is that the finished factory will be inaugurated in 2021. The factory will be something of a unique landmark with its nearly 40,000 m2 divided into production area on two floors and an associated office building in six floors.

“We will build a future-proof factory, where we can lay the foundation for the next generation of forest machines. In the new premises, we will be able to accommodate both production and development. We are investing in a factory that meets our needs here and now, but also gives us room to grow for the future,” says Martin Ärlestig, factory manager Komatsu Forest.

The factory is one of the largest investments in industrial Sweden right now and will have a strong focus on sustainability and IoT. The factory will be carbon neutral in its production, which is achieved through efficient energy supply with solar panels, modern building techniques and geo energy. The location at Klockarbäcken in Umeå is also an important factor, since the proximity to the railway means that an increased share of the company’s goods can be transported by rail.

Komatsu Forest is one of the world’s leading manufacturers of forest machines. The company sells its products all over the world and is wholly owned by the Japanese company Komatsu Ltd.

Photo: Martin Ärlestig, factory manager Komatsu Forest

On April 3, the vessel SAGA FUTURE sailed out of Oskarshamn’s harbor with just over 19,000 m3 of goods from Bergs sawmills.

The delivery is one of the single largest  to it’s warehouse in Baltimore. The US market is important to Bergs Timber and the consumption of wood products remains good.

With this delivery, they continue to secure good delivery ability to their American customers during spring and early summer.

Bergs Timber is active in three business areas: forestry services for forest owners, as a means of acquiring raw material for it’s industries, forest products and timber preservation.

Large increase in the number of Scots pine of delivered seedlings in 2018 – The Swedish Forest Agency conducts an annual survey on the production of seedlings for forest regeneration in Sweden. According to the latest survey the production of Scots pine increased by almost 8 percent in 2018 compared to the previous year. In total 384 million seedlings were delivered in 2018, which is an increase of 2 percent compared to 2017.

The most common tree species are Norway spruce, which constitutes for 51 percent of the production. Scots pine accounts for 46 percent of the production and other tree species production for 4 percent. The production of Lodgepole pine seedlings has been more than halved since 2012 – from 18 million seedlings to just below 7 million. Production of other coniferous species than Scots pine, Norway spruce and Lodgepole pine has increased to about 5.5 million. Seedlings of deciduous trees has a very small share of the production.

Rooted planting material is the dominant production method with 82 percent of the production. Bare-rooted is 18 percent, while the remaining production is virtually nonexistent. Bare-rooted seedlings are primarily used for Norway spruce, other conifers and deciduous trees.

Most of the origin of seedlings comes from Swedish plantations or Swedish forest stands, a total of about 80 percent, which is a decrease by 8 percent compared to 2017.

Air New Zealand to build world’s largest single arch timber aircraft hangar – Air New Zealand will build a new 10,000 square metre hangar at its engineering base in Auckland. The airline said it would be the largest single span timber arch aircraft hangar in the world.

The new aircraft hangar 4 will be one and a half times the size of the airline’s largest existing hangar. It will be able to house a wide body aircraft such as a Boeing 777-300 or 787- 9, and two narrow body aircraft such as an A320 or A321neo, at the same time.

It will be built at the airline’s Auckland engineering base at Geoffrey Roberts Road in Mangere. The roof will be double layer insulated allowing the hangar to retain heat without the need for heating.

The hangar will be a 5-6 “green star” building certified by the New Zealand Green Building Council. Green Star is an internationally-recognised rating system for the design, construction and operation of buildings.

Yesterday, Weiler Forestry Inc. announced it has entered into a definitive agreement to purchase Caterpillar’s purpose-built forestry business. Closing is anticipated to occur late 3rd quarter of 2019. This agreement follows the preliminary agreement between the two companies, which was announced in August 2018.

With this agreement, Weiler Forestry will acquire Caterpillar’s purpose-built forestry product line consisting of wheel skidders, track feller bunchers, wheel feller bunchers and knuckleboom loaders, along with operations facilities in LaGrange, Georgia, Auburn, Alabama and Smithfield, North Carolina.

“We are very excited to add Weiler-branded purpose-built forestry equipment to our product portfolio,” said Pat Weiler, owner and founder of Weiler, Inc. and Weiler Forestry. “Since the initial announcement, I’ve met with numerous Cat dealers and forestry customers. The response has been overwhelmingly positive and provided us with valuable feedback as we make plans to expand the existing forestry product line. We are eager to complete the acquisition and get to work.”

Founded in 2000, Weiler currently produces an extensive portfolio of products and has a long- standing history of successfully manufacturing purpose-built equipment distributed through the Cat dealer network. Upon the closing of the sale, Weiler Forestry will design and manufacture purpose-built forestry products, which will continue to be available through the Cat dealer network, providing customers with the same outstanding sales and service support they’ve come to expect.

Weiler Forestry and Caterpillar will work closely with Cat dealers to best support customers during this transition to ensure product availability and support services.

John Deere Construction and Forestry is decreasing its annual JDLink™ Ultimate offering prices, providing customers with an affordable, streamlined data solution that boosts productivity and maximizes uptime. Additionally, the division is consolidating JDLink Ultimate Forestry with the larger JDLink offering.

“Machine connectivity is key for our customers, who rely on this technology to maximize productivity and uptime. When we first rolled out our JDLink offering, we were excited to bring an innovative solution to the market that connected our customers with their machines and dealers,” said Ana-Maria Mallia, product marketing manager, JDLink. “We want to make it even easier for our customers to stay connected, and to do so, we are reducing prices to make this solution even more affordable and consolidating our subscription structure.”

Beginning this month, the annual subscription for JDLink Ultimate will be $200.00, and the JDLink Ultimate dual subscription will be $630.00. Tier pricing will be eliminated and customers can purchase up to three years of a subscription.

Additionally, the Forestry Ultimate and Forestry Ultimate dual subscriptions will be eliminated and consolidated with JDLink Ultimate and JDLink Ultimate dual. Moving forward, the Wireless-Data-Transfer and Limited Internet features offered in the Forestry Ultimate subscription will be included with all Ultimate and Ultimate Dual subscriptions. This change will be applied to both existing Forestry machines as well as new machine orders.

To learn more about JDLink, visit www.JohnDeere.com or contact your local dealer