The role of the wood mechanical industry in the Swedish forest industry cluster

The forest and forest products form one of the most important basis for the transfer to a bio-based economy in Sweden. About 75% of the area covered by forest in Sweden is used industrially to produce raw material for the wood-refining industries. Every year, this cluster uses 75 million m³ of roundwood and has an export value of €12 billion. This review paper is devoted to the wood mechanical industry, i.e. the industry which turns the forest into sawn timber, packaging, construction wood, furniture and interior fittings. The sawmills consume about half of the volume of softwood which is felled, and about two-thirds of the sawn timber go to export without any further refining within the country. Nevertheless, in spite of the relatively low degree of refinement in the sawmill and the fact that the sawmills in general over time have a very low profitability, they are responsible for 70–80% of the forest owners' profits on the sale of timber. An increased upgrading of the sawn timber within the country is desirable from a national economic viewpoint – increased employment opportunities, increased export income, etc. It should then in the first place be for products with a higher added value, such as furniture and fittings. Today, the refinement value is 15–20 times higher for products from joinery and furniture industries compared to that of the sawn timber, and the added value of the wood within the building industry is only about 1.5 times.