Segezha Group, a subsidiary of Sistema PJSFC and a leading Russian vertically integrated holding company in the forest industry performing a full cycle of operations from logging to advanced wood processing, has joined the United Nations Global Compact (“UN Global Compact” or “Compact”), the world’s largest corporate sustainability initiative.

With this commitment, Segezha Group is demonstrating its long-term support of the Sustainable Development Goals as outlined in the UN Global Compact’s ten principles.

“Segezha Group is fully aligned with the UN Global Compact’s Ten Principles, not only in word but in deed; these principles are integrated into the Group’s policies, strategic initiatives and day-to-day work. Joining the Global Compact is not simply a chance to share our positive experience internationally, but to learn first-hand from our peers about best international practices in sustainability,” said Managing Director for Government Relations and Forestry Policy Nikolay Ivanov.

On 25 February, Segezha Group President Mikhail Shamolin visited Sokol in Vologda Oblast to oversee the grand opening of Segezha Group’s cross-laminated timber (CLT) plant. The plant is the first industrial-scale production facility to manufacture the innovative building construction material. The factory is located at Sokol Woodworking Plant (S-DOK JSC), a leading producer of laminated wooden structures in Russia. Segezha Group, a Sistema Company, has invested over RUB 3 billion in the new manufacturing facility. The production capacity of the new line is 50,000 cubic meters of finished products per year. The production line is equipped with machine tools from leading European manufacturers, including Ledinek, Imeas and SCM Group. The line is highly automated, and the processes are immaculately synchronised. The plant has created 50 new jobs.

Although relatively new, CLT is popular with Russian buyers. The large-scale rollout of high-quality CLT panels onto the construction market will contribute to the development of private residential construction with wood. This may also give rise to an entire sector of multi-storey wooden housing using hybrid technologies in Russia. The use of CLT panels as building blocks significantly accelerates the construction of buildings, which is expected to be a significant advantage in coping with the fallout from natural disasters, emergency relocation of people from dangerous structures and implementation of projects to renovate buildings and improve the urban environment. One of the key advantages of this material is its exceptional environmental qualities — it has a minimal carbon footprint. This new product is also fire resistant and demonstrates excellent physical and mechanical characteristics.

At the grand opening of the plant, the industrial site was visited by Yury L. Vorobyov, deputy chair of the Federation Council of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation; Oleg Kuvshinnikov, governor of Vologda Oblast; Nikolai Shmatkov, director of Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) Russia. Viktor Evtukhov, state secretary and deputy minister of industry and trade of the Russian Federation, joined the opening ceremony via video link.

The guests were taken on a tour of the CLT panel production line. The grand finale of the ceremony was the moment the finished products came out from under the press.

“CLT panels have a tremendous advantage: they enable the urgent construction of accommodation in areas that have suffered from floods or fires. If a site has been adequately prepared, a house can be erected in two to three months,” explained Yury Vorobyov. “We are expanding the deep processing of wood. Russia ought to sell high value added products. CLT panels are the perfect fit for that. We have learned how to deep process sawn timber into high-quality panels fit for housing construction. That was the goal set for the forestry industry by the President and the government.”

“In order to build this plant, we provided the company with a rated timber harvest area and state support, a package of documents was reviewed by the investment council and priority investment project status was granted by the Ministry of Industry and Trade, providing federal tax incentives. We have gone through all these challenging steps together with Segezha Group, and today the plant is starting operations,” said Oleg Kuvshinnikov. “I am happy that the company decided to build its new enterprise in our forest region. Here, they will be engaged in deep processing of wood and manufacturing high-margin products, while also contributing to the development of the construction industry in Russia and other countries. These CLT panels can become daycares, schools, hotels and multi-storey residential buildings.”

Mikhail Shamolin highlighted that this project was completed with the solid support of the Vologda Oblast Government: “The plant in Sokol is one of the most cutting-edge facilities in the world. Thanks to this plant, Russia can now start building innovative and eco-friendly housing. The construction of multi-storey, wooden, CLT-based houses will enable the Russian construction industry to open a new chapter. The arrival of the first Russian CLT plant in Vologda Oblast is a very important and symbolic event.”

“The Ministry of Industry and Trade is pleased that the construction of the Sokol CLT plant, which began in 2019, is complete. We are finally establishing high-tech production of this very important building material. I think I am not exaggerating when I put it like that. CLT panels are already in active use in housing construction worldwide. One of our current goals is to develop wooden residential construction in Russia. We have to increase the volume of such construction. We are the leading power in forest resources, and yet in this regard, we are lagging behind many other countries. That includes those with far fewer resources for the forestry industry to bring into production. Our current goal is not only to develop privately owned low-rise housing construction but also enter the segment of multi-storey buildings using these solid wood materials. These materials are also very eco-friendly, which is particularly important today. They provide durability, fire resistance and many other important qualities. I should mention that this enterprise was built by Segezha Group, a leader and driver in the forestry industry. The company has its own facilities in Siberia and the North-West and Central Federal Districts of Russia. For us, the establishment of a plant like this here and now is a real milestone,” Viktor Evtukhov commented.

About Segezha Group

Segezha Group is a Russian vertically integrated wood processing and pulp and paper holding, with facilities in 11 countries and more than 13,000 employees. The company exports its products to more than 100 markets worldwide. Segezha Group holds leased forest resources totalling 7.42 million hectares, of which 81% (6.36 million hectares) has achieved forest management certification from the Forestry Stewardship Council (FSC). Learn more at https://segezha-group.com/en/ 

Funding boost and new woodland creation partnership formed between Defra and Forest for Cornwall.

Trees are a precious natural asset and central to the fight against climate change.

Defra and Forest for Cornwall have today [19 March] joined forces to form an innovative new National Woodland Creation Partnership pilot to drive regional tree planting. This new partnership will be supported through an initial £120,000 uplift from the Nature for Climate Fund, the Forestry Minister Lord Goldsmith has announced.

Following on from the successful Northumberland Forest Partnership announced by the Environment Secretary in 2019, the Government is backing this Cornwall Council-led woodland creation partnership to help identify sites in Cornwall for woodland creation and bring local stakeholders on board. Partnership Forum members include Cornwall Wildlife Trust, Duchy of Cornwall, Forestry Commission, Environment Agency, Natural England, Woodland Trust, National Trust, Tamar AONB, ConFor, CLA, NFU, South West Water, Cornwall Association of Local Councils, and West Country Rivers Trust.

The ambition of Forest for Cornwall, set out and led by Cornwall Council as a key part of it’s Carbon Neutral Action Plan, is to ensure that the woodlands created are best suited for the needs of communities in Cornwall. A mix of targeted tree and woodland planting will be carried out to achieve this, including:

• planting trees to provide shade in urban areas to help counter the high rates of skin cancer shown in the county
• planting trees in areas of high deprivation to provide well-being benefits for local communities
• enabling economic benefits for the county by developing well-designed woodlands of scale to encourage visitors
• planting woodlands to enhance nature’s recovery and flood mitigation

Today’s announcement highlights the essential role that local authorities and their partners have to play in achieving the Government’s ambition to increase tree planting rates to 30,000 hectares per year across the UK by 2025. To meet this ambition, a locally led approach to tree and woodland creation is needed, and local partners are in a unique position to inform the delivery of tree planting on the ground.

Forestry Minister Lord Goldsmith said:

“This exciting new partnership in Cornwall emphasises the importance of working together and using a locally-led approach to help build back greener.

“I am pleased to announce that through the government’s Nature for Climate Fund, trees will be planted where they are most needed, allowing more communities in Cornwall to have access to nature and in turn, to experience real benefits for health and wellbeing.”

Forestry Commission Chair Sir William Worsley said:

“Trees are the backbone of our urban and rural environments and essential in tackling the climate emergency. As the largest land managers in England and the government’s expert forestry advisors, we are excited to be part of this new pilot. This partnership will be crucial for deciding where trees need to be planted in Cornwall to provide maximum benefits for people, climate and nature.

Councillor Edwina Hannaford, portfolio holder for Neighbourhoods and Climate Change at Cornwall Council, said:

“We are delighted that Defra is supporting our Forest for Cornwall Programme.

“As part of our commitment to tackle climate change, we are working with partners to appropriately plant hundreds of thousands of trees in our beautiful county. This funding will enable us to support more landowners and land managers who want to plant trees in different areas.

“In 2019 Cornwall Council issued a climate emergency and has set the ambitious target of being carbon neutral by 2030. As it grows the Forest for Cornwall will help us towards reaching that goal and help us create a better, greener future for the next generation.”

By growing, protecting and restoring our trees, forests and woodlands we can help reduce carbon emissions, encourage biodiversity and nature recovery, grow our sustainable timber market, and improve people’s health and wellbeing.

Defra is committed to protecting and restoring our natural environment. This is part of a series of Nature for Climate Fund announcements this spring, leading up to the publication of the government’s action plan on trees, woodland and forestry.

In recent months, the government has announced £12.1 million of investment for tree planting in Community Forests across the country, as well as a new £3.9 million pot to support innovative planting schemes in towns and cities and near rivers to reduce flood risk.

Russia has been one of the largest roundwood traders globally for many years by exporting roughly 15-20 million m3 per year between 2010-2020. The main importers of the Russian roundwood are traditionally China and Finland, importing around 90% of the total Russian export volumes.

Based on the announcement of President Vladimir Putin last year, instructing the country’s government to ban the export of untreated or roughly processed wood, the roundwood exports might be heavily limited from next year on, should the legislation take force as proposed.

According to the plans, the ban will apply to softwood logs and pulpwood, as well as possibly birch veneer logs. The final decision on assortments and species will be done later. Green sawn wood can also be part of the ban. Besides, the Government considers imposing limitations on the export of wood chips and some of the wood-based panels, such as OSB and particleboard.

These limitations might be in force already during this year. The consequences of the export limitations would impact the interests of trading partners and force them to find either alternative sources for the commodities or to buy more value-added products from Russia.

The implications of the roundwood export ban on the Russian forest industry were recently discussed here.

China is the main consumer of Russian roundwood. In 2020, the total imports from Russia accounted for about 7.5 million m3 of wood consisting mainly of high-quality softwood and hardwood logs. The import volumes are to be replaced, and among the main countermeasures discussed are increasing supply from other countries and shifting the exports towards more value-added sawn-wood products.

New Zealand and Europe as options

New Zealand is the largest roundwood supplier in China and the import volumes from there can be increased after the Russian export ban takes place. However, the increased volumes will highly depend on roundwood prices, which should be sufficiently attractive to access some of the higher-cost supplies. The prices are increasing in China and Russia’s export ban may bring them up further. The higher prices on roundwood will result in other suppliers coming to the market, too.

Recently, New Zealand has signed an upgrade to the China free trade agreement, offering some New Zealand value-added products a reduction in tariffs. Although the tariffs on logs (and sawn-wood) were already at zero levels, faster access to Chinese markets can be used in improving/extending partnerships in the log supply. However, the overall impact on increasing imports will be minor.

Besides, the existence of major regulatory barriers could adversely affect China’s ability to significantly increase the log supply from New Zealand. Importers still have to pay the VAT on timber. Getting radiata pine approved in the construction end-uses in China might be an uplift but this issue is still under development.

Source: induforgroup

The advancement of forestry equipment has typically focused on generating more powerful machines. Now, John Deere has launched a new tech-driven initiative that will marry strength with intelligence.

Through the Precision Forestry initiative, Deere will reorganize its technology portfolio and increase its efforts in delivering solutions designed to increase efficiency and productivity in the woods.

“It’s not about getting bigger and stronger in the woods all the time,” said Graham Hinch, Deere’s sales and marketing director for the western hemisphere. “It’s about delivering more intelligent, connected machines that address our customers’ needs.”

Smart Industrial

The forestry tech initiative aligns with Deere’s overarching Smart Industrial operating model. The operating model, announced last summer, aims to accelerate its success via the integration of smart technology innovation with its legacy of manufacturing.

Precision Forestry is a more descriptive term for what customers can expect from the John Deere technology suite, including real-time, map-based production planning and tracking capabilities, along with new and evolving operator assistance capabilities.

“With technology, we believe that loggers need to embrace working smarter, not harder. The logging industry is built on hard work – it’s part of the industry’s DNA,” said Matthew Flood, product marketing manager for skidders and the Precision Forestry initiative at John Deere.

“We want to complement that work ethic with machine intelligence and system-level integration, delivering the tools loggers need to increase efficiency and performance in the woods.”

Note: Matt Flood will be presenting to local harvesting contractors on some of these new JD Smart Technologies as part of the upcoming HarvestTECH 2021 event running in Rotorua, New Zealand on 13-14 April.

A game changer

Flood explained technology is a game changer for the forestry industry. While forestry machines have become more powerful, there remains a 40 per cent variation in productivity on Deere’s machines.

“That variation comes specifically from the operator sitting in the seat. It comes from their experience level and the efficiency they have to offer on that machine,” Flood said. “We need to start to focus on having our machines easier to operate, and really allow an inexperienced operator to get the same productivity out of that machine as an expert operator.”

Machines will evolve to become smarter, and capable of adapting to various situations, regardless of who is seated in the cab. “We look to have machines that provide feedback and guide operators. Potentially, someday, they can prevent operators from making a poor decision,” Flood said.

As well, Precision Forestry will see an era where more accurate data can be harvested from machines. “As we have this accurate information and data, we can look at our machines as a system, rather than just individual machines and individual machine efficiencies,” Flood said.

Photo: Tracked Harvester 959MH Harvesting Heads FL100

Faster boom and arm speeds make it ideal for confined spaces or urban environments

Contractors looking for a machine with performance and versatility in an easy-to-transport package, will want to take a look at the Komatsu PC88MR-11 excavator. The reduced tail swing radius on the PC88MR-11 makes it ideal for work on roadways, bridges, urban areas, or anywhere space is limited.

Versatility and efficiency come standard

The 67.7 HP (50.6 kW) excavator has standard high flow auxiliary hydraulics with proportional joysticks that offer incredible job versatility, while providing precise attachment control. Standard grading blade with new moldboard profile improves backfilling and light grading efficiency.

Designed to excel in underground utility or general construction in urban environments, the PC88MR-11 short tail swing excavator is more at home in confined spaces than a conventional excavator. Its swing boom design allows digging parallel to buildings or barriers.

Fuel efficient, low-cost power

The new high-efficiency power package and viscous fan clutch work together to lower overall fuel consumption by up to 13%. The smart, simplified catalytic system removes soot without a diesel particulate filter, for lower maintenance and lower cost of ownership.

Fast cycles and custom modes

Faster boom up/swing speed, combined with responsive quick arm speed, makes excavating and leveling work easier and more efficient with the PC88MR-11. Six working modes let you tailor the machine to the tasks required, whether for performance or fuel savings.

Maximum operator comfort

Operators work comfortably in a quiet, climate-controlled cab featuring air suspension seat, Bluetooth radio, and high-resolution monitor with rearview camera. The sliding cab door makes entry and exit easier in confined spaces and LED lights provide excellent vision at night.

Quick and easy maintenance

Periodic maintenance is accessible and efficient with large service access doors and grouped service points with ground-level access.

For more details on the new easy-to-transport PC88MR-11 excavator, go to komatsuamerica.com.

About Komatsu

Komatsu is an industry-leading manufacturer and supplier of equipment, technologies and services for the construction, forklift, mining, industrial and forestry markets. For nearly a century, Komatsu equipment and services have been used by companies worldwide to develop modern infrastructure, extract fundamental minerals, maintain forests and create technology and consumer products. The company’s global service and distributor networks support customer operations, tapping into the power of data and technology to enhance safety and productivity while optimizing performance. Learn more at komatsuamerica.com.

Note: All comparisons and claims of improved performance made herein are made with respect to the prior Komatsu model unless otherwise specifically stated. Materials and specifications are subject to change without notice.

ANDRITZ has received an order from the Danish energy company Fjernvarme Fyn Produktion A/S to deliver a new biomass boiler plant complete with auxiliary equipment for their “Bio Blok 2” project.

The plant will be located on Fjernvarme Fyn’s existing combined heat and power plant site in Odense, on the island of Funen in Denmark, some 170 km west of the capital Copenhagen. This new plant will supply district heat to the Odense area and is also prepared for electricity production at a later stage. Start-up of the boiler is scheduled for 2023.

The “Bio Blok 2” project is an important part of Fjernvarme Fyn’s goal of abandoning the use of coal at their combined heat and power plants by 2022 and contributing to the national objective of a 70 percent reduction in CO₂ emissions by 2030. Fjernvarme Fyn delivers about 97 percent of the district heat requirement in Odense, providing heat for more than 100,000 households and large greenhouses.

The ANDRITZ scope of supply includes a biomass-fired boiler with flue gas cleaning and a flue gas condenser with absorption heat pump technology. Based on the ANDRITZ EcoFluid bubbling fluidized bed design, the boiler combines high efficiency with excellent environmental performance. The flue gas condenser with heat pump technology after the boiler significantly increases the district heat output and, therefore, improves the plant efficiency.

This new plant will be fuelled by wood chips as the main fuel and wood, olive and/or sunflower shell pellets as secondary fuel. The plant is capable of supplying close to 180 MW of heat to the district heating network and reaching record efficiency of almost 120 percent.

This order from Fjernvarme Fyn once again demonstrates ANDRITZ’s strong global position in the supply of state-of-the-art and environmentally friendly biomass boilers.

ANDRITZ GROUP

International technology group ANDRITZ offers a broad portfolio of innovative plants, equipment, systems and services for the pulp and paper industry, the hydropower sector, the metals processing and forming industry, pumps, solid/liquid separation in the municipal and industrial sectors, as well as animal feed and biomass pelleting.

Photo: 3D model of the Andritz EcoFluid bubbling fluidized bed boiler

Jörgen Lindquist, President of the Södra Wood business area, is to leave Södra. Peter Jhaveri will now take over responsibility for Södra Wood until further notice.

Lindquist has worked at Södra since 2015 and been a member of Group Senior Management. Jörgen also served previously as CFO of Södra.

“I want to thank Jörgen for these fruitful years at Södra. I also want to wish him the best of luck for the future,” said Lotta Lyrå, President and CEO of Södra.

Peter Jhaveri will take over responsibility as Interim Business Area President of Södra Wood until further notice. He has extensive and international experience of senior positions in several different types of businesses. These include serving as subsidiary president within the Tetra Pak Group in Asia and Sweden, as well as Consumer Board business area president at BillerudKorsnäs.

A recruitment process for a permanent appointment to the role of business area president of Södra Wood will be initiated later in 2021.

INTERFOR CORPORATION (“Interfor” or the “Company”) (TSX: IFP) announced March 13 21 that it has completed the previously announced transaction to acquire WestRock Company’s (NYSE: WRK) sawmill located in Summerville, South Carolina.

ABOUT INTERFOR

Interfor is a growth-oriented forest products company with operations in Canada and the United States. The Company has annual production capacity of approximately 3.2 billion board feet and offers a diverse line of lumber products to customers around the world.

For more information about Interfor, visit their website.

Investor contact and further information: Mike Mackay, Vice President of Corporate Development & Strategy (604) 689-6846

Jartek has been commissioned to supply a dry sorting plant at Versowood’s Vierumäki site. The delivery includes for example a new Jartek Electro Feeder, which is already fifteenth unit sold so far. The delivery is substantial and gives readiness to modernize the entire dry sorting plant. The project is a complete turnkey delivery, including both mechanics and automation.

The automation system is delivered by Jartek’s own company Jartek AI. Automation is carried out by using both the Beckhoff and Siemens solutions and consists of the latest software and machine vision innovations. The commissioning will take place at the turn of the year.