Live at Ligna 2019

SENNEBOGEN develops Pick & Carry material handler with electric travel drive

At ligna 2019, in Hanover, SENNEBOGEN will showcase a new electric drive version of the diesel hydraulic Pick & Carry material handler SENNEBOGEN 735 that is so popular with the timber industry. The prototype is currently being field tested and will be ready to go into production by the end of 2019.

When it comes to mobile timber handling, many customers around the world depend on the reliable Pick & Carry material handler from SENNEBOGEN. These machines are mainly used in log yards to organize and sort, and to feed saw mills. The 7 series machines have been designed to run continuously. Electric solutions, such as those typically used in stationary timber manipulation, have not been possible due to the long travelling distances involved. At ligna, SENNEBOGEN will present the first machine with a new drive concept. All the work process still operate hydraulically, driven by an efficient stage 5 diesel engine, whilst the undercarriage travel drive is electric.

Joint development project with Bosch Rexroth
Bosch Rexroth and SENNEBOGEN, long-term partners in drive and application technology for material handlers, collaborated to develop this electric travel drive. The system solution is based on Bosch Rexroth components, is being jointly developed into a marketable product, and will be launched by SENNEBOGEN under the name ‘Green Efficiency Drive’. The Pick & Carry material handler 735 E will be the first machine to contain the series production technology for electric travel.

Design: up to 30 % more efficient thanks to the electric travel drive
The Pick & Carry machine can already switch continuously between acceleration, braking and driving under load and this provided options for improving the use of the available energy. The new drive concept consists of two electric drive engines in the undercarriage which are supplied with power by a generator operated by a diesel engine. In addition to the increased efficiency and lower consumption of this design, the development team have also managed to achieve a reduction in noise levels, and dynamic drive and braking in the pilot production. Initial applications saw efficiency increases of up to 30 % compared to the previously used diesel-hydraulic drive. The machine has already been very convincing in field tests with one customer. The machine was used for several days in the log yard of a Bavarian saw mill.

Experience the SENNEBOGEN 735 E with Green Efficiency Drive at Ligna
As the first 7 series model, the SENNEBOGEN 735 E with the prototype Green Efficiency Drive will be on display at Ligna. Additional technical details will also be available there. The new drive concept is currently undergoing intensive testing and the first models will be ready to go into production by the end of 2019.

In collaboration with Bosch Rexroth, the company has developed a new electric drive concept for its Pick & Carry material handler. The SENNEBOGEN 735 E will be on display at ligna as the first machine with the new Green Efficiency Drive.
A joint SENNEBOGEN and Bosch Rexroth development team have successfully put the SENNEBOGEN 735 E, the first machine with a Green Efficiency Drive, through various field tests.
Fine-tuning during testing: the new drive concept is currently undergoing intensive testing and the first models will be ready to go into production by the end of 2019.

In collaboration with Bosch Rexroth, the company has developed a new electric drive concept for its Pick & Carry material handler. The SENNEBOGEN 735 E will be on display at ligna as the first machine with the new Green Efficiency Drive

https://www.sennebogen.com/en/news-press/press-releases/article/sennebogen-develops-pick-carry-material-handler-with-electric-travel-drive.html

Graanul Invest affiliate Woodville Pellets, LLC submitted the winning bid in the auction conducted on May 9, 2019 for the assets of Texas Pellets, Inc. and German Pellets Texas, LLC (collectively, “Texas Pellets”). The assets include Texas Pellets’ Woodville, Texas pellet manufacturing plant and its Port Arthur, Texas port terminal.

The transaction was approved by the United States Bankruptcy Court for the Eastern District of Texas after a hearing held on May 15, 2019 (subject to entry of a final order), and is planned to be finalized by June 15, 2019.

In connection with the acquisition, Graanul Invest received financing from funds managed by affiliates of Apollo Global Management, LLC.

The estimated manufacturing capacity of the wood biomass pellet plant in Woodville, Texas, US, is 450,000 MT of pellets per year. The Port Arthur terminal has a total storage capacity of 68,000 MT, and is capable of loading vessels up to approximately 60,000 MT.

Acquisition of Texas Pellets’ assets enables Graanul Invest group to expand its business to the United States to ensure greater security of supply to its customers. It also provides better logistical solutions for entering the Asian market, in particular the fast-growing markets in Korea and Japan.

With 11 pellet plants located in the Baltics, Graanul Invest group´s annual production volume is 2.2 million tons of pellets, making it the biggest pellet producer in Europe. Acquisition of the Texas Pellets pellet manufacturing plant offers a possibility to increase the group´s production capacity up to 25 percent.

“We have been looking for a suitable opportunity to start pellet production in the United States for over 10 years. Once we have successfully completed this transaction, we will have firmly established our presence in North America,” said Raul Kirjanen, CEO of Graanul Invest.

Graanul Invest group operates in the field of bioenergy and renewable energy production, forestry and biomaterials development. The group employs over 500 people.

The fixed forwarder cabin has been updated based on customer feedback. The renewed fixed cab is more spacious and gives the operator more room when rotating the seat. The lighting has been enhanced and special attention has been given to acoustics, look, and operator comfort.

The renewed fixed cab features high-quality, easy-to-care-for interior materials and new LED lighting solutions that illuminate the floor space, the cab, and the new doored storage spaces in the upper part of the cab. The light on the ceiling illuminates the stairs when climbing into the cab. Machines equipped with a central locking system also have an approach light.

Production of the renewed fixed cab begins and replaces the previous cab design at the end of April 2019.

Further information:
Elina Suuriniemi
John Deere Forestry Oy
Tel. +358 400 466 476
SuuriniemiElina@JohnDeere.com

Forests are vitally important for sustaining life on Earth – they play a major role in the fight against climate change. With the 2019 session of the United Nations Forum on Forests wrapping up recently in New York, we delve deeper into the subject, and find out what the UN is doing to safeguard and protect them.

Forests are the most cost-effective way to fight climate change
Arguably, protection and enhancing the world’s forests is one of the most cost- effective forms of climate action: forests act as carbon sinks, absorbing roughly 2 billion tonnes of carbon dioxide each year. Sustainable forest management can build resilience and help mitigate and adapt to climate change.

Speaking at the 2018 UN climate conference (COP24) in Katowice, Poland, Liu Zhemin, head of the UN’s Department of Economic and Social Affairs (DESA), said that “forests are central in developing solutions both to mitigate and adapt to climate change, adding that “these terrestrial ecosystems have already removed nearly one third of human- produced carbon dioxide emissions from the atmosphere. Through sustainable forest management, they could remove much more.”

At this week’s meeting session of the UNFF, it was noted that forest-based climate change mitigation and adaptation actions, if fully implemented, could reduce greenhouse gas emissions by around 15 gigatonnes of CO2 a year by 2050, which could potentially be enough to limit warming to well below 2°C (the target set by the international community in 2015). Today, fossil fuels emit 36 gigatonnes every year.

In addition, as renewable sources increasingly replace fossil fuels, forests will become more and more important as sources of energy: already, forests supply about 40 per cent of global renewable energy in the form of wood fuel – as much as solar, hydroelectric and wind power combined.

The goal of zero deforestation is close to being reached
Significant progress has been made in international forest protection over the past 25 years. The rate of net global deforestation has slowed by more than 50 per cent, a credit to global efforts to sustainably manage existing forests, while at the same time engaging in ambitious measures to restore degraded forests and land, and to plant more trees to meet the demand for forest products and services.

The goal of zero net global deforestation is close to being reached, bringing the world one step closer to the UN Strategic Plan for Forest’s target to expand global forest area by 3 per cent by 2030, an area of 120 million hectares, about the size of South Africa.

The biggest threat to forests is…agriculture
Many people will be aware of the devastating effects that illegal and unsustainable logging has on forests, but the biggest global driver of deforestation is actually agriculture, because of the extent to which forests are converted to farmland and livestock grazing land: a key challenge is how to manage the ongoing increase in agricultural production, and improve food security, without reducing overall forest areas.

A major UN report on biodiversity, released in May, made headlines around the world with its headline figure of one million species at risk of extinction, warned against the destruction of forests, noting that this “will likely have negative impacts on biodiversity and can threaten food and water security as well as local livelihoods, including by intensifying social conflict.”

The UN’s growing role in forest protection
The first time forests came to the forefront of the international agenda was at the 1992 Earth Summit in Rio, widely regarded as one of the landmark UN conferences. The Summit led to the adoption of Agenda 21, the first significant international action plan for achieving sustainable development, which noted the “major weaknesses in the policies, methods and mechanisms adopted to support and develop the multiple ecological, economic, social and cultural roles of trees, forests and forest lands.”

The Earth Summit also saw the adoption of the Forest Principles which, although non- legally binding, was the first global consensus reached on the sustainable management of forests. The Principles called for all countries to make efforts towards reforestation and forest conservation; enshrined the right of nations to develop forests in keeping with national sustainable development policies; and called for financial resources to be provided for targeted economic policies.

To better co-ordinate international efforts to put the principles into practice, an inter- governmental panel and forum were set up in the 1990s, to be replaced in 2000 by the UN Forum on Forests (UNFF), which meets every year at UN Headquarters in New York to monitor progress on the implementation of the six Global Forest Goals.

The Goals set targets for the sustainable management of forests, and reduction of deforestation and forest degradation, and were developed as part the forest community’s response to the 2030 agenda for Sustainable Development, the UN’s overall blueprint for economic progress that protects the environment and humanity.

This year’s top priorities: climate change and the real cost of deforestation
One of the key take-aways from the 2019 session of the UN Forest Forum was that, too often, forests are under-valued, because it’s hard to put a clear monetary value on all of the positive contributions they make to the world.

As a result, the true cost of deforestation and forest degradation is not taken into account when policy decisions are made on land use, such as decisions to clear forest land to use for commercial agriculture.

The importance of financing was another important element of the session: sufficient funding is an essential element in ensuring effective action to halt deforestation and forest degradation, promote greater sustainable forest management and increase the world’s forest area: despite the central role forests play in protecting the environment, only 2 per cent of funds available for climate change mitigation are available for efforts to reduce deforestation.

Source: United Nations via Scoop
Photo by kazuend on Unsplash

The Brandt Group of Companies has made a major product-line announcement; they have been named a Hitachi forestry products dealer effective May 9, 2019.

Hitachi’s purpose-built forestry products will be a strong complement to Brandt’s full-line John Deere offering and is a natural fit, as both product lines are designed and manufactured through a joint venture – Deere-Hitachi Specialty Products (DHSP) – in Langley, BC.

This is an exciting day for the company and a big win for Hitachi equipment owners.” says Brandt President and CEO, Shaun Semple. “Hitachi’s strong forestry lineup is highly-compatible with our existing John Deere offering, so loggers currently operating Hitachi equipment will be able to come directly to Brandt for unparalleled customer support from Day One!”

The dealer change will give Hitachi equipment owners the opportunity to increase their operational uptime, thanks to a larger-than-ever offering of products, parts and services, including Isuzu engine parts, available via Brandt’s extensive service network and warehouse facilities. Existing Brandt customers will also benefit from additional forestry product options.

Brandt’s area of responsibility will include Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, and PEI.

Ponsse has its sixth service centre in Sweden on 17 May when a new service centre opened its doors in Sandviken.

Ponsse is growing fast, and the need for services is increasing. We hope that we can meet future needs for maintenance even better than before, says after-sales manager Urban Folkesson. This signifies one-step in our strategy – our goal is to succeed together with our customers.

We hope that we can respond to demand even better with our new service centre. A little over a year ago, we opened our southernmost service centre in Värnamo, and this year we will open our sixth service centre in Sweden. Our personnel in Sandviken will consist of manager Peter Gästgivar, and service engineers Jonas Anderson, Anders Skog and Fredrik Jonsson, who will travel on service vehicles from Sandviken and Leksand to where service is needed.”

We decided to open this new service centre because we want to provide our customers with added value to meet their demands locally”, says Folkesson. We will invest heavily in providing our customers with the services they need in their day-to-day activities, such as products, a broad range of spare parts, as well as effective high-quality services. When necessary, we will also offer repair services with professional skills and tools. What is more, we will help our customers to update their hardware and software and provide them with information, support and training. Our goal is to offer the best services!

Jarmo Vidgrén, Sales and Marketing Director, tel. +358 40 519 1486

Products Gilbert, of Roberval, specializes in the production of equipment for sawmills, all-terrain surfacers, equipment for the forest industry and for construction, invests $ 5 million to acquire new robotic machining units to increase productivity reports Denis Villeneuve leQuotidien www.lequotidien.com

The investment was announced recently by the president of the company, Sylvain Gilbert, in the presence of Richard Hébert, MP for Lac-Saint-Jean and Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Small Business and Export Promotion , and the member for Roberval, Nancy Guillemette, on behalf of his colleague, Minister of the Economy and Innovation, Pierre Fitzgibbon.

Gilbert products obtained financial assistance totaling $ 3.9 million in interest-free loans from three programs managed by Canada Economic Development, the Essor Program and Investissement Québec.

In an interview, Lydia Gaudreault, General Manager of Gilbert Products, said that the loans allow the acquisition of a Fastens robot that will supply three new machining and machining units from the manufacturer DMG Mori. “The robot we are acquiring will manage the tools of the three machining units whose function is to manufacture various parts. The robot we currently own does not start a job until there are 25 tools available. The new robot can undertake a task with five tools available, “she said. Two robot welders will also enter the factory.

Ms. Gaudreault added that the investment will greatly improve the productivity of the Boulevard Marcotte plant while the order book is already full at the cork.

Another aspect of the investment, she says, is that the company will be able to improve its performance in the delivery of spare parts for the equipment it supplies to the market.

In its main market for the manufacture of planers, feed tables, acceleration chains, automatic harvesting systems for sawmills and forestry parts, delays caused by parts shortages can be costly, in advance Ms. Gaudreault.

Despite the entry into the robotic systems factory, Gilbert Products plans to create 18 new jobs that will add to the 125 existing ones. The positions of machinists, mechanics, production employees, technicians in robotization and computer programming will be created after the installation of new equipment.

No expansion of the existing plant will be necessary since the installation of the new equipment requires interior refitting only.

Founded in 1986, the company is a leader in the design, manufacturing and marketing of snowmobile trail maintenance equipment (surface groomers) and forestry, sawmill and construction equipment.

Global trade of wood pellets jumped more than 21% year-over-year in 2018 when a new record of 22.3 million tons was shipped, according to the North American Wood Fiber Review.

The five major pellet exporting countries (the US, Canada, Vietnam, Latvia, and Russia) have remained the top exporters for over five years. They accounted for about 69% of the world’s export volume in 2018.

Following the “big five” in 2018 were Estonia, Austria, Malaysia, Denmark and Germany, in descending order. Pellet production in the US South continued at record pace in, driven by a European move away from fossil fuels and towards renewable energy.

From the 1Q 2018 to the 4Q 2018, exports from the region were up almost 50%, further manifesting US’s role as the world’s largest producer and exporter of wood pellets, reports the NAWFR.

The United States ships practically all its pellets to three countries: the United Kingdom, Belgium and Denmark. Only a small share of the pellet production in the US is consumed domestically.

Demand for imported pellets in Japan and South Korea continued a three-year growth trend in the 4Q 2018 when import volumes reached new record highs of 339,000 tons and 993,000 tons, respectively. In 2018, the total annual import volume for the two countries was just over 4.5 million tons, more than doubling in just two years. With the increased trade, prices for pellets landed in both Japan and South Korea have moved upward over the past three years.

In the 4Q 2018, the price for pellets imported to Japan averaged $182/ton, up almost 6% from the 4Q 2017. Pellet import prices to South Korea, which were nominally lower than those in Japan, rose almost 25% during the same period. The lower average cost for South Korea can be explained by that country’s reliance on pellets from low-cost countries in nearby Vietnam and Malaysia. This is unlike Japan, whose major pellet supplier is British Columbia, a more expensive producer of high-quality FSC and SFI certified pellets.

Profile Products recently completed its state-of-the-art wood fiber processing plant in Conover, North Carolina as part of a five-phase expansion project that will include more infrastructure for creating new fiber technologies. The investment provides significant capacity to support growth for the foreseeable future.

In addition to the new plant, the project features state-of-the-art greenhouses that have more than tripled the previous space. These greenhouses will be used to continue Profile’s industry-leading research and development of sustainable products and technologies. The expansion also includes new training and educational facilities that offer more opportunities for customer and employee training. Other projects underway include new facilities for raw materials storage and packaging operations.

“Our customers have shown us they value our environmentally friendly products and this expansion will ensure we meet their growing demands for sustainable products,” said Jim Tanner, president and CEO of Profile Products. “We’re also excited to leverage the new greenhouses to develop the next generation of products for our customers.”

The expansion also builds on Profile’s commitment to environmental stewardship. Through its manufacturing efforts, Profile has already recycled more than 3.5 billion pounds of wood and paper, and the new wood fiber processing plant will continue to divert those resources from the waste stream and reintroduce them into the environment as sustainable products. The expansion is also in close proximity to Profile’s raw ingredients, allowing the company to keep trucking to a minimum and reduce its carbon footprint.

These investments are part of Profile’s long-term strategic growth plan.

For more information, please contact Jenna Jaynes, Swanson Russell,
402-437-6406, jennaj@swansonrussell.com

For the 1Q 2019, Enviva Partners, LP generated net revenue of $158.4 million, an increase of 26.4%, or $33 million, from the corresponding quarter of 2018.

For the 1Q 2019, Enviva Partners, LP generated gross margin of $9.9 million, as compared to $(5) million for the corresponding period in 2018, an increase of approximately $14.9 million.

For the 1Q 2019, net loss was $8.9 million, as compared to a net loss of $19.3 million for the 1Q 2018.

Adjusted EBITDA for the 1Q 2019 was $21.6 million, as compared to $17.6 million for the corresponding quarter of 2018. The increase was primarily due to higher sales volumes, partially offset by lower pricing due to customer contract mix and higher production costs associated with more significant and longer lasting seasonal factors.

Enviva Partners, LP is a publicly traded master limited partnership that aggregates a natural resource, wood fibre, and processes it into a transportable form, wood pellets.