The new Rauma pine sawmill of Metsä Fibre, part of Metsä Group, was inaugurated on Monday, 10 October 2022. The sawmill was inaugurated by Prime Minister Sanna Marin with Ilkka Hämälä, Metsä Group’s President and CEO, and Jussi Linnaranta, Chair of the Board of Directors of Metsäliitto Cooperative.

With a value of EUR 260 million, the Rauma pine sawmill is the largest ever sawmill investment in Finland. The investment decision was based on the strong growth in global demand for sustainably produced premium sawn timber.

The construction of the Rauma sawmill began in the spring of 2020, and continuous production was launched on 30 September 2022. The new sawmill has an annual production capacity of 750,000 cubic metres of pine sawn timber, and it uses around 1.5 million cubic metres of pine logs sourced in Finland annually. The sawmill will reach full production capacity by the end of 2023.

“The carbon that trees bind while growing is stored in wood products and buildings made of sawn timber throughout their life cycle. The newly inaugurated Rauma sawmill will help Metsä Group boost its production of products that store carbon in the long term very resource efficiently and provide its customers with even better support for sustainable growth and the phasing out of fossil-based raw materials,” says Ilkka Hämälä, President and CEO of Metsä Group.

The sawmill will be a worldwide forerunner in technology and efficiency. It will directly employ around 100 people and around 500 people across its direct value chain. Metsä Fibre’s Rauma sawmill and pulp mill form an efficient integrated mill, whose synergies are employed in energy production, side stream utilisation, logistics and services.

For photos click here.

Requests for further information, please contact:
Juha Laine, Senior Vice President, Communications, Metsä Group, tel. +358 10 465 4541

Metsä Group
Metsä Group is leading the way in advancing the bioeconomy. We invest in growth, bioproduct development and a fossil free future. The raw material for our products is renewable wood from sustainably managed northern forests. We focus on the growth sectors of the forest industry: wood supply and forest services, wood products, pulp, fresh fibre paperboards, as well as tissue and greaseproof papers.

Metsä Group’s annual sales amount to approximately EUR 6 billion, and we have around 9,500 employees in 30 countries. Our international Group has its roots in the Finnish forests: our parent company is Metsäliitto Cooperative which is owned by nearly 100,000 forest owners.

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RemaSawco AB and Gällö Timber AB have signed an agreement on 27 September 2022 regarding the upgrade of the existing control system in the dry sorting to RemaSawco’s latest generation of the product RS-ProSort, a system for automation and control of board lines in sawmills.

The agreement includes delivery, assembly and commissioning as well as signal exchange with systems from other suppliers.

Gällö Timber AB is part-owned by AB Persson Invest and SCA and is part of the SCA group.

Deliveries and installation will take place during the first quarter of 2023 and the system should be in operation at the end of March 2023.

“It feels very good that one of our old and loyal customers chooses to once again renew their trust in RemaSawco as a supplier and partner. Our products are world class and will help Gällö Timber increase the efficiency of its sawmill”

Says Emilien Saindon, CEO of RemaSawco AB

RemaSawco is a Swedish high-tech company and a leading supplier of products and services that optimize the production process within the sawmill industry.

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The aim of the Dismantling Segregation project carried out by the Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare (THL) and the Ministry of Social Affairs and Health is to dismantle gender segregation in working life. The project aims to increase the number of women in the forest sector together with Savo Vocational College, Finnish Forest Industries Federation and Ponsse. The project offers training and tools for partners to dismantle gender segregation in the forest sector. At the same time, the aim is to strengthen regional cooperation in Eastern Finland.

Gender-based segregation in working life is extensive in Finland. In most cases, women and men work in different fields, occupations and jobs, holding positions of varying levels of demandingness in working life.

According to the salary data of the Confederation of Finnish Industries (EK), the percentage of women working in the forest sector was 21% in 2021. In recent years, the percentage of women admitted to university studies in forest sciences has varied between 40% and 60%, while the share of women admitted to vocational education and training in forestry was only 5% in 2022. Students graduating with a vocational qualification in forestry are employed as, for example, forest machine operators. In the spring 2022 joint application process for Savo Vocational College, only one woman was admitted to forestry studies.

“Forestry professions are not gender-bound. The common goal of forestry companies and educational institutions is to increase the number of women seeking employment in the sector,” explains Ari Puustinen, Head of Education at Savo Vocational College.

Help for labour shortages

Many sectors that are highly segregated by gender suffer from severe labour shortages. According to a member survey conducted by the Finnish Forest Industries Federation (2022), as many as 86% of forest sector operating sites have experienced difficulties in recruiting over the past two years.

“Even today, the forest sector has a lot of available, interesting jobs. From the point of view of the operations of companies, it is vital that good employees are made available for work in the sector, “says Reetta Pilhjerta, Manager, Education and Skills at the Finnish Forest Industries Federation.

Dismantling segregation is one solution for sectors with labour shortages where new experts will also be needed in the future. Segregation also has an impact on regional vitality.

“Increasing the number of women in forestry studies and jobs is one way of ensuring the availability of labour in the sector. For example, workplaces can use communication and recruitment methods to break down stereotypes and increase diversity, “says Mia Teräsaho, Project Manager of the Dismantling Segregation project at THL.

“For Ponsse, it is important that top experts in the forestry sector can work in the field, regardless of gender. Equality and non-discrimination are the basis of our responsibility, and we want to do our part to promote the attractiveness of the industry for everyone”, says Paula Oksman, Director of Human Resources at Ponsse.

The project is part of the joint Equal Pay Programme of the Government and central labour market organisations. The aim of the project is to promote gender equality and dismantle gender segregation in working life by offering practical solutions and tools for workplaces, such as for diversity promoting recruitment and gender-aware communication. The project will produce a toolkit for all workplaces to use online.

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Following a successful first phase, Swedish forestry group Södra is now investing in another one thousand wireless Airius LTE-M vibration sensors for its pulp mills in Mönsterås, Mörrum, and Värö. Transmitting vibration and temperature data over Telia’s 4G network, the sensors are also 5G-ready.

The LTE-M communication technology is part of the 5G standard. It enables energy-efficient data transfer from the Airius wireless sensor via existing cellular networks, thus eliminating the need for companies to build and maintain their own Wi-Fi networks. In addition to superior coverage and penetration, LTE-M provides robust, built-in security because they operate within dedicated, operator-managed licensed spectrum bands. This minimizes the risk of interference.

In 2021, Södra Cell completed the first stage with one thousand sensors of Airius LTE-M at its three pulp mills with successful results. They are now moving on to acquire one thousand additional sensors to cover even more equipment. Airius measures triaxial vibration, using acceleration enveloping to detect problems such as gear and bearing faults, imbalance, and misalignment. The sensor is ideal for remote monitoring of standard production equipment such as fans, pumps, and motors and supports several different vibration measurement tasks per sensor with a user-defined number of time-based measurements per day.

The measuring results are saved in a database in the analysis and diagnostics software Condmaster Ruby residing in Södras Cell’s network. The results, which can be integrated into other systems and IoT platforms via SPM’s REST API, are handled by Södra Cell’s newly formed group of data engineers who have overall analysis and monitoring responsibility for all production units’ measurements – work that takes place in close collaboration with local technicians at the respective facility.

Commenting on this recent investment, Thomas Håkansson, Head of Technology Development at Södra Cell, said: “Our ambition is to take advantage of the new technology that gives us more input while we also continue to develop our working methods to get the maximum benefit.“

Södra Cell mainly produces market pulp for paper and textile production in its three modern pulp mills. In addition to pulp, green electricity, district heating, and bio-products are produced, such as green methanol. Södra Cell is a business area within Södra, Sweden’s largest forest owners’ association, with 53,000 members. Södra has about 3,000 employees and an annual turnover of approximately SEK 20 billion. Södra Cell is committed to being one of the world’s leading pulp manufacturers with high productivity and energy efficiency. Condition monitoring and condition-based maintenance of production equipment are essential in this work.

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USNR is to supply a new Shape Chipper Canter with profiling, Bandmill Monitoring Systems for 10 bandmills, and a Multitrack Fence for the trim line at the Balcas Timber mill in Enniskillen, Nothern Ireland. This mill is now owned by Glennon Brothers and the new equipment will improve processing accuracy, produce more volume, and facilitate delivery of higher quality products to market.

Glennon Brothers has been manufacturing high-quality timber products since 1913 in Ireland and the UK. The Glennon Brothers mills in Longford and Fermoy, and now the Balcas Timber mill in Enniskillen, along with Windymains Timber and Troon in Scotland, supply the Irish and UK markets with products for the construction, pallet wood, and fencing industries.

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Early in 2022, Tigercat dealer Titan Machinery sold its Montana branches to Torgerson’s LLC, a Case IH and New Holland dealer in Montana. One of the affected branches in Missoula is an active Tigercat dealer location with full parts supply and service capability for Tigercat machinery.

Torgerson’s is a privately owned family dealership that has been in business for 110 years. In regard to the Missoula location, fourth generation CEO, Brion Torgerson comments, “Torgerson’s has kept the forestry sales team and the parts and service support teams intact. We will maintain continuity of service in all aftermarket functions to the customer base. Torgerson’s has committed to the forestry industry and the Tigercat brand by expanding parts and service. We have substantially increased our on-hand Tigercat parts inventory to support our area’s fast-growing customer base.”

“We have hired additional experienced service technicians and added field service vehicles to assist us in fast and efficient responses to our customers’ needs,” Brion continues. “Tigercat factory training is ongoing and a very important part of supplying top-rate service and support. Tigercat is a core part of our business, and we look forward to growing with Tigercat and our Tigercat customers.”

According to Tigercat district manager James Farquhar, “I have been very excited to work with the Torgerson’s group. The family business has a long, successful history. Brion and his team have been very proactive in entering the forestry market. The Tigercat family and I look forward to helping Torgerson’s support existing and new Tigercat customers.”

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