All posts by Jo English

wood pellet

500 MT wood pellet operation being explored

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Altus Renewables Limited and Mitsui & Co Ltd. have entered into a new long-term wood pellet offtake agreement in relation to Altus’ Tuan wood pellet production facility located near Maryborough, Queensland and will jointly explore the construction of a significant new production facility in Australia’s Green Triangle region of South Australia and Victoria.

The 1 million metric ton (MT), 10-year sale and purchase agreement, will see the export of 100,000 MT of industrial wood pellets per annum from the Port of Bundaberg to the Japanese power generation market.

Industrial wood pellets are used at power stations reducing their carbon emissions. Additionally, Mitsui has provided Altus with a finance facility that will enable the company to upgrade its Tuan wood pellet production facility to achieve an annual production of 125,000 MT.

The funds will also enable the company to complete the construction of a dedicated wood pellet storage and export facility at the Port of Bundaberg, including a new export conveyor linking Altus’ facility to Queensland Sugar Limited’s ship loading infrastructure.

Altus Renewables Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer Ian Sandeman welcomed the agreement with Mitsui. “The long-term offtake and financing agreement will enable us to substantially scale up and respond to growing market demand from the Japanese market,” Mr Sandeman said.

Altus and Mitsui have also entered into a memorandum of understanding to conduct a feasibility study for the construction of a greenfield 500,000 MT per annum wood pellet production facility to be located in the Green Triangle region of South Australia and Victoria.

“Building on our Queensland operations, we are looking forward to further strengthening our relationship with Mitsui by exploring opportunities to build a world-scale operation in the Green Triangle region with the potential to be the biggest plant in Australia,” Mr Sandeman said.

The facility is estimated to take approximately two years to complete, bringing employment opportunities and investment to the region. Altus and Mitsui aim to complete a feasibility study on the Green Triangle Project by the first quarter of 2019.

Professional logging

Professional Logging Contractors (PLC) of Maine issues statement commending Nine Dragons investment in Maine mills

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The Professional Logging Contractors of Maine (PLC) issued a statement last week commending ND Paper LLC’s twin announcements that it will invest $111 million in its Rumford mill over the next two years to increase production capacity, and plans to purchase the idled Old Town bleached kraft pulp mill with an eye toward restarting the facility and producing unbleached softwood pulp there.

The announcements by ND Paper, the newly formed U.S.-based subsidiary of Nine Dragons Paper Holdings Ltd., are good news for Maine’s loggers and log truckers, according to Dana Doran, Executive Director of the Professional Logging Contractors (PLC) of Maine.

“Maine loggers and log truckers are highly skilled and hardworking, but they need dependable markets for Maine wood to succeed in today’s global forest economy,” Doran said. “These investments by Nine Dragons will increase demand for Maine wood, including for softwood pulp which is very welcome news in a state that has lost a significant portion of its softwood pulp market due to mill closures in recent years. The investments also represent a vote of confidence in Maine’s workforce and wood resource, and we applaud ND Paper for recognizing the value in both.”

The investments are timely given the recent announcement by FOR/Maine (Forest Opportunity Roadmap), a coalition including the PLC that is working to diversify the state’s wood products businesses, attract capital investments, and develop greater economic prosperity for communities impacted by recent mill closures, of an action plan to grow Maine’s forest economy from the current $8.5 billion (annual) to $12 billion by 2025. The investments announced by ND Paper show that this growth is not only possible, but already beginning to occur, Doran said.

Growth in wood markets means Maine must now begin planning for sustaining and expanding the logger and trucker workforce in the state, Doran said.

“These announcements by ND Paper and recent investments by other mill owners in Maine including Sappi North America’s $200 million upgrade at its Somerset Mill in Skowhegan show that Maine’s logging industry and the wood it supplies to mills like these remains vital to our economy, and we need to start investing in the future of that industry, including the training of future loggers and truckers, the infrastructure they need to operate effectively, and the business climate they need to succeed.”

PHOTO: Dana Doran, executive director of the Professional Logging Contractors of Maine

SkogsElmia

Focus on forest ownership at SkogsElmia 2019

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The new-generation forest owners are increasingly managing their own forests. At least as important as the yield is to manage the forests in a long-term and environmentally sound way. This approach will be in focus at SkogsElmia, which will be held next summer on 6–8 June 2019 in the forest south of Jönköping.

If Elmia Wood is the whole world’s forestry fair with a focus on technology and innovations, then SkogsElmia can be described as the whole Nordic region’s forestry fair. The overall theme of the fair will be forest ownership, a topic that affects everyone in the forest in different ways – from forest owners to machinery contractors to forestry officials.

The fair’s theme will encompass everything from ownership transfer and forest management to technology and logistics that minimise ground damage. As forest owners are making new demands, forestry fairs are becoming increasingly important meeting places for the forest industry’s various actors as well as platforms for the development of new products and services. Smart digital technology is being used more and more in forestry too, and so visitors to the fair can look forward to many innovations and much new thinking among the exhibitors.

SkogsElmia is held every fourth year and attracts about 30,000 visitors and 300 exhibitors. The new fair manager for SkogsElmia is Mattias Pontén, a certified forester with great expertise and solid experience of the forest industry. He takes up his post now in June.

“It will be a terrific experience to be part of the forest industry’s development,” he says. “Forest ownership is a broad topic with many different issues, which I care greatly about as a forest owner myself. One key focus right now is sustainable forest management with an eye to the future – a future that will be strongly characterised by digitalisation and the links between services and products. We will fill SkogsElmia with many relevant activities to complement the exhibitors’ many new products and services, and we anticipate a fair that will benefit everyone involved.”

For more information about SkogsElmia, contact

Mattias Pontén, tel +46 (0)36-15 20 84, email: mattias.ponten@elmia.se, or

Veronika Albert, communicator for Elmia’s forestry fairs, tel: +46 (0)36-15 22 34, email: veronika.albert@elmia.se

Komatsu Forest

Komatsu Forest buys land

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Komatsu Forest has an intention to invest in land at Klockarbäcken in Umeå, Sweden, to further expand their operations. The land area is in an existing industrial and commercial area.

Komatsu Forest manufactures forest machines that are sold worldwide. The company, which is wholly owned by the Japanese company Komatsu LTD, has its manufacturing and head office in Umeå.

There are many signs of growth in forestry and Komatsu Forest sees a strong demand globally. The company also says that forestry is an industry for the future, where it is likely to see a variety of new, innovative and climate-smart materials made from wood.

“The investment we make here is primarily about ensuring long-term growth here in Umeå”, Martin Ärlestig, Factory Manager, Komatsu Forest concludes.

Contact:
Annelie Persson
General Manager Marketing & Information
+46 90 70 97 32
annelie.persson@komatsuforest.com

record year

Norway – Against record year for harvest and prices

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If the good operating conditions remain the rest of the year, 2018 can be a record year in terms of total impact and timber prices reports Gina Aakre –
Norwegian Forest Owners Association. It shows figures from the Agriculture Directorate.

The average timber price was NOK 426 per cubic meter, which is 18 percent higher than the same time last year. The impact is so far this year at the same level as in 2017, despite lower activity during the drought this summer. In total, 8.2 million m3 of timber has been decommissioned until 2018, of which 2.4 mill m3 timber has been decommissioned in the third quarter. It reports the Agriculture Directorate.

High demand for domestic and export timber demand has led to a rise in timber prices from an already high price level, and the increase in mass has been particularly pronounced.

“In the skating industry, we are accustomed to prices varying with the business cycle, but we have rarely experienced such a significant rise in prices as the one we now see in the massacre,” says Per Guldbrand Solli, section head of the Danish Agricultural Directorate.

The price of pomegranate from pine and pine increases by 42 and 48 per cent respectively compared with the same period last year. By comparison, the average price of wood and pinewoodwoods increased by 7.5 and 3.4 per cent.

In July, the activity in the forest is usually low due to holiday vacations, this year the summer harvest is also affected by the extreme drought.

The figures show that this turn in September, and that the harvest increases relative to last year. If the good operating conditions remain the rest of the year, 2018 will be a record year both in terms of total impact and timber price.

“The forest represents a contribution to the economy for those affected by the drought in agriculture this summer,” comments Solli.

Traditional forest fences in the inland have been the main source of increased impact, following the same pattern as previous years.

Photo: Timber prices are still rising, and in the autumn there has been a lot of activity in the forest. (Photo: Åsmund Lang)

brands

John Deere included among the best global brands

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John Deere has again earned a spot among the world’s most valuable brands in an annual ranking completed by Interbrand, a leading brand consulting firm. John Deere is ranked 88th in the Best Global Brands research announced today, moving up 4 spots from a year ago. Interbrand estimates the John Deere brand to now be worth approximately $5.4 billion.

“A decade after the global financial crisis, the brands that are growing fastest are those that intuitively understand their customers and make brave iconic moves that delight and deliver in new ways,” said Charles Trevail, Global Chief Executive Officer of Interbrand.

Interbrand said its brand valuation is based on three key areas – financial performance of the brand; the brand’s influence on purchase decisions; and the brand’s strength to create loyalty and sustainable customer demand.

“This recognition emphasizes the success of our 70,000 employees worldwide who work each day to deliver on the company’s core values of integrity, quality, commitment and innovation,” said Samuel R. Allen, Deere & Company Chairman and Chief Executive Officer.

John Deere has been included in the Best Global Brand ranking since 2011 when Interbrand estimated the value of the John Deere brand to be $3.65 billion. The Interbrand methodology was the first of its kind to be certified by International Organization for Standardization requirements for monetary brand valuation.

Deere & Company (www.JohnDeere.com) is a world leader in providing advanced products and services for customers whose work is linked to the land – those who cultivate, harvest, transform, enrich and build upon the land to meet the world’s dramatically increasing need for food, fuel, shelter and infrastructure.

For further information call:

Ken Golden
Director, Global Public Relations
Deere & Company
309-765-5678

mulching head

New John Deere mulching head

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John Deere continues to provide best-in-class vegetation management with the addition of the MH60D mulching head to its Worksite Pro™ lineup. Designed to remove 8-inch (203-mm) trees and 12-inch (305-mm) stumps with ease, the MH60D model shreds underbrush and woody materials into beneficial mulch in minutes. Like all Worksite Pro attachments, this mulching head is optimized to work with John Deere skid steer loaders and compact track loaders, as well as most competitive models.

“With 30 double-carbide tipped teeth, our new mulching head attachment is a job site beast that easily takes big bites out of trees and stumps,” said Jessica Hill, global program manager, attachments. “It’s an invaluable tool for customers who need a powerful mulching solution, no matter the tree type or location.”

Delivering superior large-material knockdown, the MH60D also works well below soil level for chewing out difficult stumps. A two-speed hydraulic system efficiently uses available horsepower. When the preset pressure level is attained, the motor automatically shifts to a higher displacement, increasing torque for reduced stalling and faster rotor-speed recovery time. A prominently positioned pressure gauge allows operators to easily monitor hydraulic operating pressure.

The mulching head was developed to deliver exceptional job site performance. A 1,524-mm (60-inch) high-capacity, smooth rotor design reduces material drag and horsepower requirements. The rotor is balanced for smooth operation, and oversized 64-mm (2.5-inch) sealed rotor bearings deliver long-term durability. A redesigned mulching chamber enables more efficient material flow and reduces wear points for optimized shredding performance. Internal counter-combs help shatter incoming material, creating finer mulch. Optional knife tools allow smoother cutting and finer chip size.

For added durability, the attachment’s three-position heavy-duty push bar helps protect the carrier while toppling tree or brush. The door cylinder inside the frame body is better protected, while the enhanced frame construction and bolt-on skid shoes reduce debris buildup, extending wear life.

 

For further information, the news media should contact:

Worldwide Construction & Forestry Division
P.O. Box 8806
Moline, IL 61266-8806

Kyle Rubeling, imre
Phone: 410-821-8220
E-mail: kyler@imre.com

Hyne

Hyne grows production capacity

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Hyne Timber has just announced a significant expansion to its Glue Laminated Timber (GLT) manufacturing capability in Maryborough, Queensland.

Already a significant manufacturer of GLT in addition to softwood timber products, this expansion investment with the support of a Queensland Government Jobs and Regional Growth Fund will launch the company into a globally competitive product offer.

The new state-of-the-art manufacturing plant will accompany the existing plant in Maryborough’s Industrial Estate which is now in its 40th year of production.

This announcement comes as engineered timber manufactured from plantation softwood is increasingly preferred for larger scale commercial and residential construction projects due to its superior sustainability and environmental credentials.

Hyne Timber CEO, Jon Kleinschmidt said investment to increase manufacturing capability has never been more timely.

“GLT is the talk of the design and construction industry, but a lack of competitive Australian supply options has prevented many projects from using it. “Increased capability here in Australia will be a game changer for the construction sector and a very positive area of growth for Maryborough.” Mr Kleinschmidt said. Construction of the new plant is expected to commence within a matter of weeks.

Company website here.

factory

Komatsu Forest plans new factory

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Komatsu Forest wants to create a factory for the future – Recently, Komatsu Forest announced their intention to acquire land in Klockarbacken, Umea, Sweden. Now Komatsu Forest have revealed that they have the ambition to build a completely new factory in the area.

The ambition is to build a factory that is optimised with human possibilities in mind. The company already has high demands on work environment, safety and product quality, which is also something that characterises the vision of a new factory.

“We want a factory that is based on human capabilities, where technology, good ergonomics and safety are prioritized and help to enable good quality in our manufacturing. We want to build an attractive and efficient workplace where our employees thrive and grow and where we can deliver product quality at the forefront “, says Factory Manager Martin Arlestig

Another important part of the vision is to take great environmental responsibility. “We have high environmental targets for our production already today, but when a new factory is built from scratch, we can seek environmentally friendly solutions all the way. Our target is to become CO2 neutral in our production, “says Arlestig.

“We see this as a major investment in the region, which will contribute to additional job opportunities throughout the construction project. We also see the factory as part of a larger whole, where the establishment of the new plant helps to strengthen the attraction of the region as a forest technical centre in Sweden.

The region already has a strong forestry technical position, but a new factory would contribute to strengthening the position even further for the future”, concludes Arlestig.

For a decision to invest in a new plant to be realised, support is required to assist the company’s venture; such as a sustainable infrastructure solution that meets the company’s future transport needs on road and railroad and regional support is needed to complement the large investment made by the company.

“This is one of the major investments in the company’s history and as we understand it, one of the major industrial investments that is to be started in Sweden right now. We look forward to get all items settled so that we can carry out our plans and start the procurement process for the project”, concludes Mitsuru Ueno, CEO Komatsu Forest.

Photo: Komatsu Factory Manager Martin Arlestig

plantation harvests

China: Wood processing consolidations

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In China, a massive restructuring effort to eliminate outdated and polluting wood processing mills, many of them being plymills had, by the end of 2017, resulted in around 3,000 plywood mills across the country being closed.

A total of 621 fibreboard production lines were dismantled or shut down eliminating over 20 million cubic metres of production capacity. However, within a year fibreboard output had recovered.

In addition, more than 900 particleboard production lines were either relocated or closed reducing the installed production capacity by around 17 million cubic metres. Overall in 2017 there was a 15% decline in the number of wood-based panel enterprises.

These changes affected mainly the smaller companies such that by the end of 2017 production capacity had consolidated in fewer but large and medium-sized enterprises. This restructuring has resulted in an increase in cross-industry mergers and acquisitions within the industry.

By the end of 2017 there were 117 continuous flat pressure fibreboard production lines throughout the country with an annual production capacity of 19.4 million cubic metres accounting for 41% of the national total production capacity of fibreboard. There were also 40 continuous flat pressure particleboard production lines in operation.

Source: ITTO MIS Report