international forest magazine 2008

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JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2008 | International Forest Industries 1

15 Biomass – A fine grindThis US company has developed some of the foremost biomass processingmachines in the world and is ready to take on the expanding Europeanbiomass market. Chris Cann reports

26 Operation Focus – RussiaA public listing is about the only thingLondon-based forestry company RussianTimber Group is prepared to put on hold as it pushes full steam ahead with its expanding Russian business.Chris Cann reports

36 Operation Focus – EWDSawmilling stalwart EWD explains wherethe sawmill supply industry is headed toIFI editor Chris Cann

40 High ProfileA forester with a mind for machineschatted with Editor Chris Cann about thechallenges in front of him as the man incharge of John Deere’s marketing inEurope and Russia

43 Operation Focus – USNRThe operating philosophy of NorthAmerican sawmills generally is to treatevery log as unique, while Europeanmills tend to pre-sort their logs in theyard for continuous batch processing toachieve a comparable production

15

Regular Features

CONTENTSJ A N U A R Y / F E B R U A R Y 2 0 0 8

COVER STORY – MagIndustriesThe Republic of Congo’s largest private employer is

a sustainable forestry operation that is mechanising

its log logistics and expanding with a chip mill.

MagIndustries is a resource and energy

company active in Central Africa. MagForestry,

Republic of Congo, operates a 68,000 ha

eucalyptus plantation, including a 500,000 t/y

wood-chipping facility that is nearing completion.

MagIndustries also has MagMinerals and

MagMetals (Pointe Noire), and MagEnergy (DRC)

as subsidiaries. John Chadwick reports

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36The wood processing industry is constantly throwing newchallenges at manufacturers and suppliers, forcing them to come up with more efficient and productive equipment

A painless process

4 Sawpoints

6 World Markets

22 World Wood

45 Sustainability

47 Cutting Edge

56 Show Calendar

8

40

43

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OPERATION FOCUS

ISSUE 2

JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2008

EDITOR’S COMMENT

TThe global economy is the topic on everyone’s lips of late. And the continueddecline of global stock markets along with general uncertainty will do nothing fortroubled US forest industries that rely more than anything on housing starts to

drive their business. The world has been waiting with bated breath to see what will happen in the US,

praying the world’s largest economy will be able to dodge a recession. No one is morehopeful than the North American timber industry, but, as time goes by, the situation looksmore and more bleak.

Interest rate cuts in the US in late January tempered fears of a recession to some extentbut then that may also serve to increase inflation, which would make future rate cutsdifficult.

The situation is dire. Professionals enjoying more prosperous conditions in Europetouch briefly on the subject in this edition of International Forest Industries, if only toconfirm the depressing predicament of their North American colleagues. Meanwhile, ourfriends at International Wood Markets have provided an update on another problemgripping that part of the world – the mountain pine beetle epidemic in British Columbia.

It seems that many industry professionals in North America are moving away from thetraditional robust market – if they have the means – in favour of greener pastures, whichat the moment means just about anywhere else in the forestry world.

While much rides on the fate of the US economy and the North American industryremains at a stand-still, the greater forestry world keeps on turning – in some cases morerapidly than ever before.

More speed, more accuracy, and more productivity. That is what the sawmills of todayare calling out for, and that is what the sawmill suppliers are giving them, according toour report. The IFI sawmilling technology review examines some of the leading productscurrently on the market from optimising equipment to handling systems. We also chat toone of Europe’s longest running and most reputable sawmill suppliers – EWD.

We delve into deepest, darkest Africa to look at MagIndustries’ harvesting and chippingoperation in the Congo and speak to the head of an English company looking to securepublic capital in order to pursue its lofty ambitions in Russia.

There is even some good news coming out of the US in this edition through ourbiomass lead feature on South Carolina-based Jeffrey Specialty Equipment, which isexpanding its business through the processing of biomass for various industries. Tworecent orders for the company come from two of the world’s largest wood pellet plants,also in the US, which are shipping their product to European markets crying out for green fuels.

I would like to use this forum to once again thank the increasing number of companiesand individuals who are supporting this magazine as it grows. The Wood TechnologyClinic in Portland in March will be the first major industry event attended in the flesh byIFI and the April edition of themagazine will feature more visits tosite by our editorial team forOperation Focus articles fromaround the world.

Our coverage is becomingincreasingly extensive and we arestarting to meet more of ourreaders. The magazine is designedto be a forum for sharinginformation and a service to theinternational industry and as suchwe always welcome your feedback.

Chris CannEDITOR

SUBSCRIPTIONSTel: +44 (0)1442 877 [email protected]

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Editorial DirectorJohn Chadwick [email protected]

Editor Chris [email protected]

Editorial BoardDr Patrick Moore – Chairman and ChiefScientist of Greenspirit (Canada)

Darren Oldham – Managing DirectorSöderhamn Eriksson (UK)

Catherine Murphy – Chief Executive of theNational Association of Forest Industries(Australia)

Professor Piotr Paschalis-Jakubowicz –Warsaw Agricultural University (Poland)

Andre de FreitasForest Stewardship CouncilHead of Operations

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International Forest Industries is publishedby International Forest Industries Ltd,2 Claridge Court, Lower Kings RoadBerkhamsted, Herts. HP4 2AF, UK

Periodicals Postage Paid at Rahway NJand at additional mailing officesPOSTMASTER: send address changesto International Forest Industriesc/o DHL Global Mail, 365 Blair Road,Avenel, New Jersey, NJ 07001.Printed by Broglia Press, Dorset, UK© International Forest Industries Ltd 2007ISSN 1755-6732

IFI uses, as preference, SI units throughout.All dollars are US unless otherwise stated.


In the next edition, editor Chris Cannwill report on his visit to an A & J Scott

harvesting operation in Scotland and its milling operation in

Northumberland, England

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4 International Forest Industries | JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2008

SAWPOINTS

Prime Minister Viktor Zubkovhas put the spotlight onRussia’s timber industry,according to online newsservice, Russia Today, callingfor a rethink on how thecountry managed one of its

most valuable resources at a meeting with keyplayers and ministers in the Vologda Region.

Though Russia owns almost a quarter of theworld’s timber reserves, its role in the industryhas decreased significantly since the 1990s.And, despite a number of initiatives, it has notshowed any signs of improving, according tothe report.

Zubkov declared it was time to shake up andremodel the entire timber industry: “There arestill more questions than answers in the areasof industrial timber processing, forest roadbuilding, technical equipment, timber trade andpersonnel training. But one thing is clear –Russia’s timber industry needs to beoverhauled.”

The first port of call according to Zubkov wasto diversify exports away from raw materials to

processed production. At present, processedproduction in Russia is relatively rare thoughthere are exceptions. The processing operationsin practice at the moment generate a range ofwood products from plywood to cottages, whichare both purchased domestically andinternationally, the report said.

These operations alone had helped reducethe quantity of raw timber exported from 70%in 2000 to 40% in 2006. Forest industries arebursting at the seams to kick-start theprocessing industry in Russia, with the EnergyMinistry swamped with more than 200proposals, from almost 40 regions for newdevelopments. Four of those were set to beimplemented this year.

Economic Development Minister ElviraNabiullina said the industry was desperate forprivate investment from both home and abroad:“The share of timber industry in both GDP andexport is relatively low. That is why we needfinancing for both mid-sized and large projects.”

Meanwhile, environmentalists warn that theforest itself should not be forgotten amid talk offurther exploitation, Russia Today reported.

Russian government to overhaul timber industry

Shareholders back Tembec recapitalisationCanadian integrated forest company, Tembec,has gained additional support fromnoteholders for its proposed recapitalisationtransaction flagged in December last year.Since Tembec’s public announcement of therecapitalisation, more noteholders haveexecuted support agreements, backing thetransaction. As of New Year’s Eve,noteholders had agreed to vote some $774million of notes in favour of the deal.

Key points of the transaction were:• Conversion of $1.2 billion of

Tembec’s debt into newequity

• Implementation of a newfour-year term loan of $250million to $300 million (finalamount to be determined byTembec) to provide additional liquidity

• Reduction of Tembec’s annual interestexpense by some $67 million

• Business as usual for employees, tradecreditors and customers. They will not beaffected by the recapitalisation

• Implementation of the recapitalisation wasexpected to occur by the end of February.

The new capital structure is designed toprovide a stronger financial base for theexecution of Tembec’s operating strategy andenhance the long-term value of Tembec,according to President and CEO James Lopez.

“This recapitalisation transaction is asignificant and positive development forTembec and its stakeholders. It is a

consensual solution that is fair to both ournoteholders and our shareholders, and itmeets Tembec’s previously stated businessobjectives of improving its capital structureand liquidity. This transaction does not affectTembec’s customers, suppliers or workforce.It is business as usual.”

The Tembec board unanimouslyrecommended all noteholders and

shareholders support the transactionbecause it will reduce net debt by

some $1.2 billion, normalisingTembec’s capital structure. Thedeal was recommended byTembec’s financial advisor,BMO Capital Markets, which

said the terms of therecapitalisation were fair from a

financial point of view to thecompany.

“With this transaction, Tembec isdelivering on its key commitment to exploreand pursue strategic alternatives to reduceits debt levels and improve liquidity,” TembecChairman Guy Dufresne said. “The board andmanagement believe this transactionaccomplishes Tembec’s objectives. It is acomprehensive recapitalisation that creates astronger company and allows for the pursuitof greater opportunities.”

Tembec expected separate noteholder andshareholder meetings on February 22, 2008in Montréal, Québec, to deliver the requiredapprovals for certain steps necessary toimplement the recapitalisation transaction.

Cameroon joins PEFCThe Cameroonian Association of the Pan AfricanForestry Certification (PAFC Cameroon) hasbeen unanimously accepted as Cameroon’s newmember of the European-based Programme forEndorsement of Forest Certification Council(PEFC). Cameroon is the second membercountry from Africa after Gabon and itsmembership raises the number of PEFC member countries to 33.

Following an initial application by PAFCCameroon and certain minor clarifications, itsmembership was accepted and has now been confirmed.

PAFC Cameroon Chairman Christine AnjembeNkene: “PAFC Cameroon is delighted to beaccepted as a member of the PEFC Council andlooks forward to working with our partners andcolleagues towards developing our own forestcertification system. We aim to develop,promote and implement a forest certificationsystem that is adapted to Cameroon andaccepted under the umbrella of PEFC – thelargest forest certification system in the world.

PEFC Secretary General Ben Gunneberg saidthe council was pleased by PAFC Cameroon’scommitment to sustainable forest managementand to working with the PEFC Council: “Whilethere is a great deal of work to be donebeforehand, we look forward to the submissionof the Cameroon system for PEFC endorsementand we will work with our new member towards that goal.”

Uganda invests $253 million into plantingUganda plans to plant millions of trees in thenext four years at a cost of $253 million, as ittries to restore dwindling forest cover to 30% ofits area from 22%, according to a Reutersreport. Deforestation in Uganda leads to dried-up rivers, soil erosion and threatened wildlife.Ugandan officials have also called for arecognised carbon sink that would enable it toearn credits on mechanisms set up to helpcountries meet their CO2 emissions targets.

“Our aim is to plant trees in our forestreserves but also to encourage those who ownprivate land to plant. In four years, we think weshould reach 30% cover,” National ForestAuthority spokesman Moses Watasa said. Theinitiative is set to involve several unnamed localand international timber companies and most ofthe start-up capital was to come from donors.

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SAWPOINTS

Investlesprom dealseals $100 million inRussian sales for JDA huge deal to deliver forest machines toInvestlesprom’s Russian operations in Arkangel,Segezha and Vologda has tipped John DeereForestry’s Russian sales over the $100 million-mark for the December quarter, 2007.

The latest ‘framework agreement’ betweenJohn Deere Forestry and Investlesprom was afollow-up to Investlesprom’s earlier order for 29forest machines in November. John Deere actsas Investlesprom’s strategic partner.

In connection with signing the latestagreement, Investlesprom also revised itsharvesting targets for 2012 from just over 2million m3 to more than 6 million cubic m3.

“This fall has been the most successful thatJohn Deere Forestry has ever had in Russia,”John Deere Forestry Managing Director, TimoKyttälä, said. “This most recent deal withInvestlesprom is one of John Deere Forestry’sall-time largest orders from Russia. In additionto this agreement, we also have otherimportant orders in the pipeline, such as theforest machine deliveries to Ruukki Group andMondi Group.”

A forest commission is to be set up in Russianext year to supervise harvesting and the useof forested areas as well as to coordinate andsupport the development of the forestry sectorby building access roads for forestry operators,for example.

Investlesprom is one of the largest forestrycompanies in Western Russia as well asRussia’s largest forest lender. The companyowns more than 27 Mha of forest in fourdifferent locations around Russia.

Fund to stimulate Scottishtimber industryA blueprint designed to boost businessefficiency in the Scottish timber industry waslaunched by Environment Minister MichaelRussell in December last year. The TimberDevelopment Program has a budget of £1million ($2.02 million) with which it aims toinvigorate the industry through a series ofpartnerships between the forestry and researchsectors over the next three years.

An industry-led steering group chaired byJohn Kissock OBE will assist ForestryCommission Scotland in prioritising the delivery.The program will facilitate innovative research toincrease timber use in construction, improvemarket information to encourage investment,and support sustainable management of UKforests to grow high quality timber.

Russell said: “The Timber DevelopmentProgram will add value to this important sectorof Scotland’s economy. The outputs of many ofthe initiatives will contribute significantly toScotland’s response to climate change byencouraging more use of timber as a renewableresource in construction and minimising theimpact of timber transport on our environment.I am particularly encouraged by the level ofenthusiasm and support from the timberindustry for this initiative.”

The Timber Development Program has four key objectives:• To promote a predictable and stable timber

supply. One aim is to produce a more accuratelong-term forecast of timber production fromthe private sector. This will provide theindustry with greater confidence to identifyand plan for development and investmentopportunities

• To encourage more use of timber and timberproducts. A key output is to continue tosupport specific activities where there is aclear market opportunity for home growntimber. Work is also to be commissioned tocompare the carbon impact of wood withother materials in a range of building types

• To encourage improvements to the timbersupply chain efficiency. Initiatives such as theStrategic Timber Transport Fund are designedto minimise the impact of timber transport onthe environment and rural communities.Encouraging haulage via rail or sea andopening up access to landlocked forest areaswill allow more timber to be harvested. Thisflow of timber is essential for satisfyingincreasing demand for existing and emergingmarkets for wood products such as woodfuel

• To encourage improvements to the quality ofthe growing stock. A series of projects will becarried out to improve the fitness for purposeof timber including encouraging growingquality broadleaves for the domestichardwood sector.

The Minister also launched ‘New TimberArchitecture of Scotland’ written by PeterWilson and commissioned by ForestryCommission Scotland. The book illustrates 90construction projects in Scotland that usetimber and provides an insight into the use ofwood in contemporary Scottish architecture anddesign. The book is free and copies can beobtained by contacting Wilson [email protected] and Andy Leitch [email protected].

Environment Minister Michael Russell withauthor Peter Wilson

FINNISH GROUP TO PRODUCE RESEARCH STRATEGYA stakeholder group termed the “wood productscluster” in Finland will write out a researchstrategy aimed at improving competitivenesswithin the global wood products industry. TheFinnish Forest Industries Federation (FFIF) willcoordinate the work in which companies andresearch institutions from the wood productssector are invited to participate.

“A strong foundation for the competitivenessand future success of the Finnish woodproducts cluster must be established,” FinnishForest Industries Federation Senior Vice

President, Pertti Laine, said in a statement.“Research and development plays a verysignificant role in this totality.

“Additional resources need to be allocated toresearch and the development of the cluster;funding should also be directed moreeffectively. The resources necessary for thedevelopment of the industry will be musteredinto joint research projects, in which the entirecluster and every company that is determinedto achieve future success will participate.”

Recent projects have already sketched out

what the future might hold for the woodproducts industry and outlined developmenttargets for the sector, but the number ofcommon research projects is still too low,according to the FFIF. “The needs of customersas well as the use of locations and possiblenew uses of products have become increasinglyimportant in the determination of researchgoals. Success in global competition calls for anincrease in the degree of value-added and thedevelopment of products that meet the needsof customers,” the organisation said.

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WORLD MARKETS

Wood products consulting firmInternational Wood Markets Grouphas predicted the BC Interior

industry’s ongoing massive salvage of mountainpine beetle‘-killed’ timber and the processing ofthis timber into SPF lumber will continue to bevery strong for at least the next five years.Concerns that the BC Interior’s industry’s peaklumber output of more than 24 million m3 in2005 and 2006 was going to plunge in the

short-term appear unfounded. It is nowexpected that lumber output could stay in the21.5 million m3 to 24 million m3 range foranother five years before any structuralindustry changes are recorded (please note thatall m3 figures are in net, not nominal measure)..

There continues to be considerableuncertainty around the “economic shelf life” ofprocessing dead pine trees, or the length of timeafter attack that beetle-killed pine trees remainmerchantable for manufacturing dimension-typelumber. “What we have learned to date is thatthe BC Interior forest industry has become veryefficient at milling three to five-year-old deadpine trees,” IWM Vice President Mike Jahraussaid. “Although grade recoveries have slippedsomewhat, so far the industry has largely beenable to battle the beetle’s potentially devastatingimpacts on mill productivity and lumber recoveryby strategic capital investments in newtechnology, changes to mill configurations andenhancements to log processing in the woods.”

In its report, IWM combined its ongoingresearch in this area with BC Government

projections on beetle-associated pine mortalityto suggest a high and low scenario on how andwhen future timber harvests and lumberproduction in the BC Interior could be affected.The sheer volume of pine timber still to beaffected by the beetle epidemic, the experienceof the industry in processing this timber, andexpected market conditions in 2009/10 andbeyond, suggest that the industry mayexperience harvests closer to (or even better

than) the “high case” scenario projected for thenext 10-year period. As a result, over half of the900 million m3 of pine timber that will be killedby the beetle by 2017 is expected to beharvested and processed by the BC industry.

“We forecast that during the next five to sixyears, BC Interior lumber output will be in therange where it has been since 2004, or in the21.5 million m3 to 24 million m3,” IWM PresidentRussell Taylor added. “At some point the timberquality will become uneconomic and lumberproduction will trend lower, bottoming outsomewhere in the 13 million m3 to 16 million m3

range towards 2020 (an output of 16 million m3

would be similar to pre-beetle output achievedin the late 1990s). However, many variables(local to global) could allow for even higheroutput over the next 10 years.”

There is still much uncertainty looking outbeyond the next 10-year period, as timber shelflife, market/economic conditions, technologyoptions and developments in non-sawlogproducts cloud any future timber harvest andlumber production forecasts. The potential longterm impact of the mountain pine beetle on theBC forest products industry cannot beunderestimated since about one third of the BCInterior’s total timber volume will have beenkilled by the beetle by around 2015. However, it appears that because of a number of factors,more of the beetle-killed pine timber will beeconomically recoverable than previouslythought, maintaining the BC sawmillingindustry’s position as a major supplier ofconstruction lumber for at least the next decade.

International Wood Markets has published theWOOD Markets Report since 1995 and is one ofthe leaders in global wood products research,analysis and strategy. www.woodmarkets.com

IFI

BC battles on despite beetleVarious factors indicate that SPF lumber output from British Columbia could remain in the

16 million m3 to 24 million m3 (net measure) range for the next 10 years despite the affects

of the mountain beetle epidemic, according to International Wood Markets

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With the Wood TechnologyClinic in Portland almostupon us, now is the

perfect time to investigate thelatest technology and productdevelopments in the sawmillingindustry from around the world.As Wood Technology CommitteeChairperson Rich Donnell haspointed out, the struggles of thewood products markets,particularly in North America, havebeen well documented and “verymuch felt”. He said it was duringsuch markets that producersdiscover they must and cansqueeze additional efficiencies outof their operations. And so,sawmill suppliers all over theglobe are finding news ways toprocess and handle raw materialsin a bid to get more out of existingoperations.

OPTIMISATIONNorth Florida Lumber recentlybought a GradExpert from Comactfor sister company, Rex Lumber, inorder to optimise return on planedlumber. However, Comact ProjectManager Luc Girard saidintegrating a GradExpert into anexisting production line presentedmany challenges. The Comactteam needed to take precise

measurements to make sure thatthe equipment fit perfectly into itsdesignated space.

Back in Quebec, Comact haddone its homework and customdesigned, fabricated andconfigured a system using theGradExpert with the objective ofmeeting the specific needs of RexLumber and its product line.

“The GradExpert was started upin mid-November. In fullproduction, our new GradExpertboasts a production rate of 140pieces/minute with a margin oferror under 2%, without graders,”Girard said.

The GradExpert has a planermillgrade optimiser with featuresincluding:� Geometric and Vision data

generates a complete gradingsolution of all the boards

� The fastest return oninvestment in the industry

� Up to 220 boards/minute

� Consistent performance 24hours a day

� Stable transversal scanningensures accurate measurementof bow, crook, twist, skip andwane

� Vision System that providesaccurate detection of knots,pith, blue and red stains, decay,bark pockets, paint marks(MSR/Wet), splits, shakes andworm holes

� No need for any marking and orrecognition system.

The GradExpert is capable offully grading spruce-pine-fir,southern yellow pine, douglas fir,hemock, and white pine.www.comact.com

The mountain pine beetleepidemic in British Columbia (seeWorld Markets in this edition for

the latest) has devastated forestryin the region but it has alsocreated the opportunity forsawmill suppliers to developproducts capable of battlingagainst the affects of beetles.

Canadian group Coe NewnesMcGehee’s Linear High Grader(LHG) will be grading lumber killedby beetles on more West FraserMills’ planermill lines in 2008. TheLHG automated grading systemdetects and classifiescharacteristics such as size, wane,skip, planed bark, knots, stain,splits and shake, pith location,moisture content, strength andmore. The LHG’s performance

SAWMILL FOCUS

LHG’s high resolution vision images, hihghlighting fiber separationdetection capabilities

Typical damage seen in the sawmill

The wood processing industry is

constantly throwing new challenges at

manufacturers and suppliers, forcing

them to come up with more efficient

and productive equipment

A painlessprocess


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www.usnr.com


SAWMILL FOCUS

grading beetle-affected lumber wasinitially proven in operation at WestFraser’s Fraser Lake, BC division.Two recent LHG orders will add onenew and one upgraded system ondual planermill lines at its Quesnel,BC division.

The new planermill Coe NewnesMcGehee (CNM) will supply at thissite includes tilt hoist infeed,(refurbished planer), Revolver lugloader, SEC PosiLock positioningfence, multi-saw trimmer withprecision end trim saw, 56 verticalbin pusher lug sorter with live binwalls, electric bellcrank stackerwith vacuum lath placer, aseparate prime stacker line forstacking premium lumber,package outfeed line with quadpaper feeder and cutter, andpackage re-entry line.

The automated grading ordersfor West Fraser include the E-Valuator MSR grading module thatdelivers non-destructive, highyield MSR production from thechallenging, “bug kill” fiber.

“There are reasons for WestFraser’s success with LHGtechnology,” CNM MarketingManager Colleen Schonheiter said.“At the eight West Fraser mills thatcurrently run LHG systems, thecompany has invested in trainingits personnel, it follows a thoroughstandard quality assuranceprocess, and takes ownership forits own success.”

Canfor is another majorproducer affected by damage fromthe mountain pine beetle. Canfor’sPG Sawmill division is based inthe heart of beetle territory, anarea struggling with volumerecovery. With current geometric-only scanning capability, mills areexperiencing a marked increase inlumber breakage and associated

downtime. The Canfor team haschosen CNM’s Sawmill BioScanBolt-on upgrade to alleviate theseissues on their existing transverseedger system. The mill alsoagreed to become CNM’s beta sitefor the bolt-on module.

CNM’s Sawmill BioScantechnology is field proven, afterrunning successfully on beetle-affected fibre for over a year insidea capital installation BioFrame. Thebolt-on is a relatively easy upgradein that it is housed in a separatemodule that can be bolted on tothe side of the existing scannerframe. The bolt-on upgrade willprovide two-sided vision scanningto detect and analyse visualcharacteristics such as knots,splits and shake, stain, etc.

The Canfor installation wasscheduled for mid-February. Thesystem was to be brought on lineduring the mill’s structuredweekend down time schedule toallow system tuning withoutaffecting production. Canfor hasassigned a mill systems liaisonteam to work as part of the projectgroup. The company’s recipe forsuccess includes using key peoplein rolls of communication and

technical expertise.“Optimisation is constantly

evolving, and key to success isdeveloping better partnershipswith experienced customers likeWest Fraser and Canfor,”Schonheiter said. “Thesetechnologies are proven andsuccessful in their current formshowever there is always room forimprovement. Feedback from millpersonnel and the opportunity toevaluate improvements in the fieldensure the technology continuesto evolve to meet futurechallenges.” www.coenm.com

WoodEye Rip measures andinspects timber, up to 750 mmwide and 20-100 mm thick, andoptimises ripping based on a widerange of defined products andquality criteria. It is all carried outat full production speed – fullyobjective and constant over time.With its ability to optimise theyield and minimise wasteWoodEye Rip can be an integralpart of the modern and efficientproduction line.

As the company notes, efficientmanual inspection before rippingis an almost impossible task. The

parameters to take intoconsideration are numerous andthe time to make a decision isextremely short. Regardless ofexperience, you can only inspectone side of the timber. “Even if youdo your very best it is extremelyhard to make decisions that matchthe desired qualities and orderedquantities for each product.

The drawbacks are obvious!And so are the advantages whenyou incorporate WoodEye Rip intothe production line.” The systemallows total control of theproduction process and producesexactly the right quantities of allwood products. www.woodeye.se

During 2007, Catech developed anew wane edger optimiser thatimproves work and productivity inthe raw sorting. Catech’s waneedger optimiser operatesunattended while the optimisingprogram and the measuring zoneare doing the work. Measurementis made touchless, whichincreases speed (earlier themeasurement was made with ameasuring frame that pressed theboards down). Measurementresults are sent to Catech’s uniqueoptimising system, OptiScan6000, which drives the saw bladesin the trimmer for correct cutting.

Catech´s own developedoptimising system OptiScan 6000has the latest technologicalfeatures. OptiScan 6000 is anadvanced simulation – andanalysis tool. During productionoperators can simulate boards todetermine if the optimal yield isproduced, according to sawmills’best price for sawed boards.

Operators can see each board in3D, which increases thepossibilities to analyse the optimal

At the eight West Fraser mills that currently

run LHG systems, the company has invested in

training its personnel, it follows a thorough

standard quality assurance process, and takes

ownership for its own success

CNM Marketing Manager Colleen Schonheiter

Covers over edger infeed at Hasslacher Hermagor GmbH, Austria The Catech OptiScan 6000 drives the sawblades in the trimmer for correct cutting



www.comact.com


SAWMILL FOCUS

yield. Operators can use four typesof parameters for optimising;batch table, wane rules, dimensionand advanced constants. In thebatch table board dimensions,length and quality is connectedwith different price levels. The newOptiScan 6000 has been deliveredto Hasslacher Hermagor GmbH,Austria.

A new scan head is said tospeed up the scanning processwhile measuring more points andimproving recovery rates,according to its manufacturer. TheJS-20 WX Scan Head made byVancouver-based Joe-Scan has awide-angle laser scanner, whichdelivers accelerated and preciseprofile measurements fortransverse scanning of boards andcants. The JS-20 WX Scan Head isthe latest in the JS-20 series.

President Joey Nelson: “Giventhe importance of transversescanning, JoeScan has engineereda product that is fast and accurate.The JS-20 WX is capable of 650profile measurements per second,with each profile containing up to243 data points, and it issubstantially faster, collecting asmuch as 10 times more data thanthe typical multipoint scanner.”

The JS-20 WX provides accuratelength, width and thicknessmeasurements of board and cants,using one type of scan head. Thetransverse scans provide totalsurface coverage and improverecovery rates. With points locatedevery 31.25 mm, the scannerprovides more data and detectsfiner details and defects.

The scanner is easily installed,requiring only 24V DC and anEthernet connection for operation.

It eliminates the need foradditional, custom computer andinterface electronics. The JS-20 WXScan Head features one-click,automatic calibration. The scanneris designed to withstand extremevibration and is fully sealed tokeep out dust and moisture.

Joescan claims all the productsin the JS-20 series are designedfor the most challenging industrialenvironments. The scan heads canwithstand the extreme vibration ofriding on the carriage, and thealuminium housing is fully sealedto keep out dust and moisture.“With no moving parts, JS-20models are designed to deliveryears of unfailing service,” thecompany states.

JoeScan provides the sourcecode for communicating with thescanners. All the heavy lifting ofsockets, network protocols,message decoding and encodersynchronisation is neatly wrappedup and well-documented. “Thecode compiles under bothWindows and Unix, and weprovide bindings for Visual Basic6.0 as well. We work closely withyou to ensure that it’s easy tocommunicate with our scanners inyour environment.”

Finally, the company says the JS-20 models are easy to use and can

be installed inminutes: “With just 24VDC power and an Ethernetconnection, you can monitor andconfigure the scanner from any webbrowser on the network. Thecalibration techniques for JS-20scanners are the most intuitive andflexible in the industry: Just dragthe scan data near the shape itshould fit on, and the scannerfinishes the job.” www.joescan.com

SAFETYWorking environment in sawmillshas become more and moreimportant. That’s why Catech hasdesigned covers for edger andedger outfeed. The covers protectthe workers from loud noise,accidents and saw dust. Thecovers open easily usinghydraulics.

Catech´s new maneuver panelgives the operator completesupervision over the edgingprocess. Instead of havingmonitors and buttons all over thecabin, every function is gatheredat one place. www.catech.se

HANDLINGCaterpillar offers customisedversions of the 988H wheel loaderfor efficient and reliableproduction in special applications-handling logs in millyards. The

versatile 373-kW 988H wheelloader provides the platform andthe power. The 988H Log LoaderArrangement includes a specialapplication linkage, larger tilt andlift cylinders, additionalcounterweight and third valvehydraulics for top clampoperation. A lock-up clutch torqueconverter and ride control areavailable to improve productivityand enhance operator comfort.Additionally, a trash resistantcooling system with an auto-reversing fan is available. Thehinged fan assembly swings outfor easier cleaning. Log loaderwork tools are logging forks-forunloading trucks-millyard forks, awoodchip bucket and full widthforks. www.cat.com

The Brunette vertical logsingulator (VLS) is designed toprocess logs from 10-67.5 cmdiameter, lengths from 2.44-22 m,and speeds to 30 cycles/minute.The VLS’s face is precisely profiledfor maximum separating efficiencyin any depth of log pile, and thisprofile also reduces wedging forceswhen lifting logs from the pile.

The product contains thefollowing operational features:� The final log loading stage is

driven and controlled separatelyfor catch-up, plus is designedwith a minimum drop into thetake-a-way conveyor for quickloading, to eliminate log gapsand lost production

� Feed speeds to 30 logs/minute(faster for stud machines),using variable frequency drivesand a dedicated control systemfor operational flexibility

� A steep log pile contact surfacefor optimal log alignmentagainst the machine

� Lifting arms closely spaced forpositive log pick-up, even onrandomly spaced short logs

The AWMV LT300 industrial sawmill can improve profitability by decreasing

handling and labour



SAWMILL FOCUS

� Large height gains in a shortdistance, especially importantin retrofit applications, or tosave valuable building space

� Upper and lower main arms areconnected to produce abalanced machine, for reducedhorsepower savings

� Multiple machines can beinstalled side by side with nogap, for minimum spacerequirements

� Loader frame designed for endsupport under bin walls, toallow unobstructed residualsclean-up below the machine

� Custom units can bemanufactured for specialsituations, such as stackingvertically to obtain greater liftheight, ending rolls built intothe final loading section, orsupplied with tandem drives foralternating long or short woodoperations.

Installation and maintenancefeatures are as follows:� Standard length units shipped

in one piece for minimum fieldinstallation costs

� All drive components such asVFDs, gearboxes, bearings andspherical rod ends oversized forlong life

� All main pivot points are doublerow spherical roller bearings,and all grease points easilyaccessible from the back forroutine maintenance

� Manufactured from heavy dutystructural steel sections andthick plate for long life.www.brunetteindustries.com

AWMV engineers have come upwith a brilliant way of movingboards off the mill while furtherreducing labour. The AWMVtransfer table uses gravity to getthe job done, according to thecompany. “After the materialmoves onto the transfer table, theoperator either kicks the cut pieceoff one side (onto anotherconveyor or storage area) or letsthe board automatically traveldown a roller table where it isstopped and held.”

This unique design eliminatesthe need for chains, gears andeven the electric motor. Thetransfer table can be made foreither right or left-handed use.It is part of a greater AWMVmaterial handling systemthat features in the AWMVLT300 industrial sawmill,which claims to be able toincrease profits bydecreasing log handling andlabour requirements. The headingis controlled from a separateoperator station – from the sawyerhas the best possible view – byjoysticks and sophisticated buteasy-to-use setworks, accordingto the company.

“From there the operatorcontrols all log-handlingfunctions, determinesboard thickness, andcontrols the movement ofthe cutting head. An airjetsweeps sawdust from the

freshly cut surface providing anunobstructed view of the cutting.”

Unique to the LT300 is thecruise control system thatautomatically regulates feedspeeds to the highest possiblerates for maximum production.

The company says the LT300can produce more than 2 millionbd ft/y of grade lumber. “With itsthin-kerf, narrow band bladesproduce 40% more lumber thancircle saws. The 30 horse powerelectric motor can process thebiggest logs at just a fraction ofthe power needed to operatelarger mills.”

AWMV has also placed greatemphasis on safety with bladesextensively guarded operators andoff-bearers working away from thecutting head.

DRYINGGrenzebach BSH introduced thepress dryer technology forsimultaneous drying andsmoothing of veneers in 1984based on the experience of 4,000veneer dryers since 1919. Afterseveral phases of developmentthe new generation pf pressdryers, Thermojet novapress, hasbeen presented.

Following a pre-dryingphase, the veneer is guidedby means of a press rollergroup at the end of thedryer at high, controlledhumidity. This results insmooth and flexibleveneers.

Special features of this newgeneration are: optimisedThermojet air guidance, use oflarge press rollers and concavebelt controls and foreign-objectcontrols to protect the valuablerustproof belts that are drivenindividually by large rollers. Nochains and no oil lubricationpoints. Easy to clean due tosmooth bottoms.

Various options for automationand control are available. Theoption of guiding veneer throughthe dryer at an angle also furtherreduces the formation of foldsand waves in wood with defects ofgrowth.

Modern infeed and dischargesystems to increase productivitysupplement the range of dryers.

Versions Thermojet compactand Thermojet midi provide pressdryers designed for the processingof ultra-thin veneers and rootveneers, respectively that aredesigned for low throughput.www.grenzebach.com

SAWSExeltec is a system thatmanufacturer SöderhamnEriksson says sets a new standard

SöderhamnEriksson’sLogmaster HPS is in a class of its own

The heavy duty AWMV E430 edger



SAWMILL FOCUS

in high-speed optimised boardedging. The need for premiumboard recovery and increasedpiece counts from modernsawlines has led to thedevelopment of this new high-techedger generation. Exeltec isdesigned for feed speeds of up to450 m/minute and piece countsup to 80 boards/minute. The highresolution scanners for wane up ordown combined with unlimitededging solutions ensure first classfibre recovery and system stability.

“Exeltec is designed with robottechnology for the toughestindustrial requirements and basedon Söderhamn Eriksson’s morethan 25 years of experience as aleading manufacturer of edgers –this to meet tomorrow’srequirements for speed andreliability,” the company states.

Söderhamn’s Logmaster HPSband saw sets new standards inhigh speed saw production thatthe industry may not quite be

ready for just yet (IFI Decemberp16). Its extreme productionperformance and thin saw kerfsmean profitable sawing is raisedto levels never experiencedbefore, according to the company.

“Logmaster HPS is designed forfeed speeds up to 180 m/minuteand saw speeds up to 100m/second with excellent productaccuracy. Supported by its newelectronic monitoring and self-adjusting features, systemstability and reliability are solid,Söderhamn said.

In the not-too-distant-future,Söderhamn plans to release anequally impressive andrevolutionary circular saw –EuroSaw S6 D. The Eurosaw S6 Dis a new shifting double arbourcircular breakdown saw for four-sided cants. Developed with theexperience from the successfulEurosaw with fixed saws, S6 Dnow features six instantly shiftingsaws on telescopic arbours.

“The double arbour technologyguarantees first class productaccuracy and highestperformance. With its extremelyheavy duty arbours design,Eurosaw S6 D meets the highestrequirements. For our clients, thismeans an accurate product, bettersweep sawing, minimiseddowntime, more productdimension possibilities. It willsimply reward them with thehighest possible performancethere is.” www.se-saws.com

The AWMV E430 edger is a saw

capable of keeping up withstrenuous demands ofcontemporary sawmilling. Theheavy duty E430 edger meets thetoughest requirements for amodern edger – speed, accuracyand flexibility on large boards.

The saw can handle boards upto 10 cm thick and 90 cm wide, andthe 30 horse power electric motorcan power two blades through thetoughest material. Both 40 cminsert blades move outward fromthe centre to allow the use of anoptional tailer, while a standard

laserhelpsensureaccuracy toimprove yield and grade.

The company has alsodeveloped “one of the fastestand most economical” ways toadd value to wood throughresawing. The MultiHeadhorizontal band resaw usesdurable and dependable steel,flat-bed conveyer to feed thematerial into the saws. The steelconveyer has a longer life than itsrubber counterparts and producesmore accurate lumber, accordingto AWMV.

The MultiHead saws butt-to-butt up to 100 ft/minute and areideal for sawing cants into anydimension, and for manufacturingpallet boards, fencing and evenflooring planks. The saw can also

reduce sawing time by 50% bycutting six boards in the one pass.Frozen or kiln-dried woods are noobstacle and an optional merry-go-round automatically feedsuncut cant portions through theMultiHead.

“The MultiHead is designed tobe easy to operate and maintain,”AWMV states. “It handily defeatscircle gangs when it comes toreduced labour costs andincreased lumber yield. There arehundreds of MultiHeads inoperation around the world –

satisfied owners continually vouchfor its quality.”

DEBARKINGThe Kodiak debarker is theproduct of “decades ofmanufacturing experience andresearch” combined with the“latest emerging technologies”,according to manufacturerBrunette Industries. The result iswhat the company describes as“unsurpassed high-speeddebarking with the highest uptimein the industry”.

High uptime is possiblebecause the Kodiak is built towithstand the abuse that comeswith a demanding job likedebarking. Extra heavy-dutyconstruction means a generalimmunity from break-downs. Aswell, any time spent onmaintenance is minimal becauseof carefully thought out featuresthat allow safe and simpleaccessibility to key components.The produce fits nicely intosawmills, plywood plants and chipplants to deliver reliable, speedy,cost-efficient and productivedebarking quality.

The Kodiak debarker is availablein a size and configuration to suitthe following applications:� 42.5 cm, 55 cm, 67.5 cm, 80 cm,

90 cm � Single or dual rotor � Optional self-centering infeed

conveyor � Optional butt reducing rotor � OSB www.brunetteindustries.com IFI

The Exceltec system developed by Söderhamn Eriksson sets a new standard in high-speed optimised board edging

AWMV’s MultiHead horizontalband resaw is tougher and moreaccurate

The EuroSaw’s double arbour technology

guarantees first class product accuracy

and highest performance



BIOMASS

A fine grindThis US company has developed some of the foremost biomass processing machines in the

world and is ready to take on the expanding European biomass market. Chris Cann reports

The WBE EZ hog is capable of processing biomass at up to 220 t/hour

More than 60 years of experience in thebusiness of biomass processing hasindustry stalwart Jeffrey Specialty

Equipment perfectly positioned to takeadvantage of the current surge in demand forbiomass machinery.

The biomass industry has grown incredibly inthe past two years, fed tirelessly by the need toincrease capacity and efficiency with aheightened consideration for the environmentfrom society that is enforced by legislation andfinancial incentives. Harvesting, sawmilling andpulp and paper companies are turning to

biomass processingas a way of fullyutilising the rawmaterial felled.

South Carolina-based Jeffrey, now asubsidiary of K-TronInternational, startedcommercial life wellover a century ago asa supplier of coal-cutting machineryand thenundergroundmechanised miners,

crushers, locomotives, cars, rams and powershovels for the mining industry. The obvioussynergies with size reduction led to the forestryarm of the business as the company developedmachines for wood and biomass reduction inthe 1940s.

The forestry arm had been responsible forabout 40% of total company sales two yearsago, however, with the explosion of thebiomass industry that figure has grown by halfagain, and size reduction equipment for use bypulp and paper, panel board, sawmilling, andwood energy industries now makes up 60% ofJeffrey sales.

The chief Jeffrey machine-line for processingbiomass is the wood hog. Those close to theindustry would also know these units ashammer mills, shredders, and grinders – or justhogs. The company’s sales in the past havebeen dominated by its series 40 or series 50ranges, which work at a rate of about 20-50t/hour of material. But all that has changedquite recently and it is now the bigger modelsthat are the best sellers, a trend that accuratelyreflects the industry, according to Jeffrey Salesand Marketing Manager, Doug Sublett. He saidthe biomass processing arm of the businesshad grown as the environmental issues

associated with climate change had increased.Jeffrey has doubled its sales of 60 seriesmachines for two years running. The 60 seriesmachines typically operate at a 100 t/hour rate.

“Our most dramatic growth has been in thelast two years and we see it in two ways. Firstly,the number of machines that we’re selling inthe wood hog range, and secondly the size ofmachine we’re selling. The number of machineswe’re selling has more than doubled and thephysical size of the machine – the amount ofmaterial that can be processed – has probablydoubled as well. We’re now making machinesthat can process up to 220 t/hour,” Sublettsaid. “The market has gone toward these verylarge machines across the board. And that allhas to do with the amount of biomass beingprocessed.”

HOGS FOR PELLETSA perfect example of the direction in which thebiomass industry is headed can be seen in tworecent orders filled by Jeffrey. Jeffrey hasdelivered machines to two massive wood pelletmills that have just been established in the US,one of which is apparently bigger than anythingelse previously built worldwide. Green CircleBio Energy (owned by Swedish company JCE

Doug Sublett, Salesand MarketingManager, Jeffrey

IFI_PG15_21_Biomass:layout 12/2/08 10:07 Page 15


BIOMASS

Group AB) has built a pellet plant with a world-record capacity of 560,000 t/y in Florida, whileDixie Pellets (owned by US company New GasConcepts) had almost completed constructionof a 500,000 t/y capacity plant in Alabama.Green Circle is up and running, while Dixie wasbeing finished at time of writing though somesmaller lines were already running. Most of themills’ combined capacity of more than 1 Mt/ywill be shipped into a European market hungryfor pellets to feed anything from residentialboilers to large co-fired coal plants.

A large European market has been evolvingfor some time on the back of regulations aimedat fighting global climate change which havecreated incentives for power companies toboost their use of renewable resources. Europealready consumes nearly 8 Mt/y of woodpellets to run factories and power plants, andto heat entire neighbourhoods.

Another plant is reportedly being built by DGPellets – also in Alabama and also owned byNew Gas Concepts – that plans to eclipse theGreen Circle plant production by generatingmore than 600,000 t/y of wood pellets.

Though Sublett remained tight-lipped aboutthe details of the Jeffrey deliveries to GreenCircle and Dixie, he did say that three 800horse-power plus machines were sold, capableof processing bark and wood chips at high rateswith very tight product specifications. Machinesof that size retail at between $200,000-$250,000, meaning those two orders alonenetted Jeffrey a minimum $600,000 gross.Given two primary hogs are said to be used atDixie it could also be assumed they would bothbe Jeffrey machines.

Those machines are from the company’slargest machine range at the frontline of hog

technology – the WBE EZ Access wood hogs.The Model WBE wood hogs have beenredesigned with Jeffrey’s exclusive EZ AccessTM

technology, which allows safe, fast, and easyaccess to the hammers, rotor, and liners,according to the company website.“Maintenance operators can safely and quicklyclear plugged chutes to minimise downtime andperform routine maintenance with more safetyand ease. The new EZ Access technology alsolets operators remove the wood hog’s rotorwithout removing the feed chute,” the sitespruiked. The technology can also be added toexisting Jeffrey wood hogs using a retrofitpackage.

Sublett: “With the front folding down itmeans you can get in and maintain the machinevery quickly. We also use replaceable tiphammers now so as opposed to replacing thewhole hammer you just replace the tip. Thehammers in these machines are about 150 lb a

piece so changing them can be a real struggle,but the tip is only 25 lb”

He said maintenance requirements for theWBE EZ range depended almost entirely on thecleanliness of the material being processed.Sublett said 90% of servicing was devoted tothe hammers and the grates, and hammer setswere generally replaced three times before thegrate needed replacing.

“If the wood is clean you can see eightmonths on a set of hammers. But if the wood isfull of sand, dirt, grit and everything in betweenthen it might be two weeks. The example forthe latter would be a mulch manufacturer whois using a front-end loader to pick up all thejunk off the ground and half the dirt. As the dirtincreases so does the wear on your machine,”Sublett said.

Other features of the WBE EZ range weremultiple hammer designs available for bothstandard and SS design rotors; lower housingextended to provide 180° of screen grate area;disc-type rotor assembled on a high, alloy-steelshaft and is mounted in self-aligning sphericalroller bearings in rugged steel housings;substantially reduced maintenance time becausethe rotor shaft is drilled for the hydraulic removalof the bearings to ensure quick bearing removalwithout damaging the shaft.

In addition the hogs have Slant-Flow® screengrates that are unique to Jeffrey wood hogsand, unlike conventional screen sections, the

A sketch of the biggest wood pellet plant in the world

The Jeffrey hogs are made to order

The number of machines we’re

selling has more than doubled

and physical size of the

machine – the amount of

material that can be processed

– has probably doubled as well



www.komatsuforest.com/heroes

BIOMASS


Slant-Flow design is angled into the flow of thematerial being shredded. This gives moreshredding action and allows the material toevacuate faster.

The liners are manufactured from thickabrasion-resistant steel plate to protect againsthigh impacts and normal wear, and every Jeffreywood hog has an integral metal trap thateffectively collects the odd pieces of smallertramp metal that can damage the hog. Rolled-steel, structurally reinforced housings ensurelong-lasting durability. When properlymaintained, the hog’s fully lined interior preventsthe housing from wearing on the inside.

The way these machines are used differsbetween the Green Circle and Dixie plants. InAlabama at the Dixie plant, the WBE EZ hogsare used as a primary facility. The material isbought locally from different mills or chippersin wood chip form at a pre-specified size andthe hogs grind that material to the appropriatesize for efficient drying. Once the material isdried it will go through a secondary processand is then shipped.

The Green Circle plant is set in the middle ofan established pine plantation and is importingwhole trees to be processed with a knifechipper in the first instance before secondaryprocessing for wood chips. Here, Jeffrey hogsare used to process bark mainly, along with anyother disregarded wood and general twigs and sticks.

“We discussed wood hogs but in the endthey [Green Circle] went another direction.Based on our experience with our Chip-sizertechnology we felt that using a wood hog wouldhave required far less maintenance. When youstart looking at knife-based technology versushogs to process wood chips, from amaintenance standpoint the knife chipper willbe much higher maintenance because you’reusing knives instead of hammers to do thework, not to mention what happens with youencounter tramp metal.”

Sublett said Jeffrey was grateful to have beenpart of both facilities and felt confident thatboth organisations would be successful giventhe current biomass environment.

WIDER USES FOR THE HOGThe function the Jeffrey hogs have at Green Circleis closer to the typical function of the machines.About 65% of Jeffrey’s biomass business isdevoted to the pulp and paper industry, whichwould position a hog in the woodyard. Logs aredelivered to the woodyard to be debarked andthe bark is put through the hog to be grounddown to a specified size, typically about 2-inch (5 cm) minus to be sent to the boiler. Fallenlimbs and broken wood also go through the hog.The Jeffrey hogs also take pre-hogged materialfrom the field at a size of around 8-inch (20 cm)minus and put it through a secondary hoggingprocess to ready it for the boiler.

About 15% of the business is committed tothe sawmilling and panel board industries,where the machines pick up pre-milled andpost-milled biomass ‘waste’ product to processinto an end product that the mills can either sellon or use themselves. “Most of the work we dowith sawmills has to do with processingsawmill residuals, the material left over afterthe wood has been converted into is final form.This material includes chips, shavings, cants or

butt ends. The panelboard industry is similar topulp and paper where we handle most of thematerial at the front end of the process or in thewoodyard and primarily the debarking area,”Sublett said.

“Sawmills will typically sell it to someoneoffsite though some will use it themselves forkilns or firing a boiler for energy of some sort –but they’re usually the much smaller mills. Mostwill sell it off to a pulp and paper mill, whilesome sell to wood pellet manufacturers.”

About 20% of the business is miscellaneousactivity like the direct wood pellet business,dedicated energy producers using biomass forfiring boilers, and special projects involvinggasification or cellulosic ethanol production.

MADE TO ORDERDifferent clients require different machinesdepending on three main factors – the size ofthe desired end product, the rate at which theyneed to feed the hog, and the size of thematerial the client wants to feed the hog.Jeffrey has a range of equipment and can tailordifferent machines to fit the specifications of

Not just hogsJeffrey’s other forestry machine is the Chip-sizer, which, as the name suggests,re-sizes oversized wood chips for the pulpand paper industry. The Chip-sizer waspioneered in 1996 in response to industryconcern over high maintenance costs fortypical re-chippers. Jeffrey was the firstcompany in the industry to research anddevelop a true no-knife re-chipper,according to the website. Several designswere discussed and tested in the labbefore determining that the currentpatented design would be best suited forthe industry. The first unit was put intoproduction in February of 1997 andquickly achieved results beyond anyone’sexpectations.

The Chip-sizer looks like a typical woodhog. But while the operating principle issimilar to a wood hog, the Chip-sizer re-chipper incorporates several specialfeatures and components. The hammerallows the unit to operate at speeds muchslower than hogs and also offers a “soft-touch” to the chips to keep from creating pins and fines. This along with “other patentedcomponents” makes the Chip-sizer re-chipper more efficient than other similar industry products.

“In the pulp and paper mills during the chipping process, as chippers wear or become dull youget what the industry calls ‘overs’ and/or pins and fines. Our Chip-sizer re-sizes the oversize chipswhile minimising pins and fines, and allows you to put them back into the process. We see arecovery in the neighbourhood of 90-95% using that machine,” Sublett explained.

“The more traditional way to do this before we developed this product was to send ‘overs’ backthrough a knife re-chipper – again, high maintenance. A knife chipper requires around $60,000-$70,000/y to maintain the knives, whereas you might spend $10,000/y to maintain the Chip-sizerand still get a good ‘spec’ product. It’s also tramp-metal tolerant, so if you get a piece of metalthrough the machine it will take it, deposit it into the metal trap and keep on going. If a piece ofmetal goes into the knife re-chipper it destroys the knives.”

Jeffrey has up to 140 Chip-sizer units in the field at the moment and most of the major playersuse the machine as best practice, Sublett said.

The Chip-sizer will be on display at SPCI 2008conference in Stockholm this May

at the Rader booth

Hammer speed is adjusted according to clientneeds



www.precisionhusky.com


> UPM-Kymmene to build a renewable energy power plantat its Caledonian mill in ScotlandUPM-Kymmene is building a new power plant to be mainly fuelled bybiomass at its Caledonian mill in Irvine, Scotland. The new boiler willutilise a 350,000 t combination of biomass and site derived residuesas its primary fuel. The total investment cost is £59 million ($115million).

The new power plant, once started-up in the first quarter of 2009,will continue to reduce UPM’s carbon emissions by 75,000 t/y. Thecompany has reduced its production related fossil CO2 emissions by25 % during the last 10 years by investing in biofuel-based energygeneration and in energy efficiency. The latest investments have beenin a new boiler plant at the Shotton mill in the UK and power plantsat the Rauma mill in Finland and Chapelle Darblay mill in France.

The Caledonian mill power plant will also significantly assist theScottish Executive in achieving its 2010 national renewablesgeneration target of 18%. The investment further reinforces UPM’sCaledonian mill site as being one of the largest ever inwardinvestments in Scotland.

> Plantation waste turned to renewable energyThe Forest Products Commission (FPC) in Australia has signed aA$10.5million contract to supply plantation residues to privatecompany Western Australia Biomass.

FPC General Manager Dr Paul Biggs said obtaining a significantbuyer for this material was an important step towards increasedprofitability for the entire plantation forest industry. “This newagreement offers a local and environmentally sustainable solution forthe use of plantation pine residues, which are presently a low valueresource.”

“This is an excellent example of the FPC partnering with industryto produce a win-win for the environment and the economy,” he said.“After five years of joint development work between the FPC and WABiomass, about 150,000 t/y of pine residue will be converted intorenewable energy.”

“The FPC is continually working with industry to minimise wasteand find maximum value uses for our timbers. This new contract willhelp make handling of forest residue more efficient and also returndirect value to the State of WA.”

WA Biomass Executive Adrian Rizza said the company had appliedfor permission to construct a 40 MW renewable energy power facilitynear Bridgetown. “WA Biomass has been developing this project forthe past five years and the power facility is expected to bring capitalinvestment of around A$120million to the South West.”

“During the construction phase, which is projected to last between18 months and two years, this new facility is expected to employ upto 300 people. We estimate another 120 new jobs will be createddirectly and indirectly over the life of the plant, with job security overthe next 30 years. In total, this is expected to increase householdincome in the region by around A$4-5million/y.”

“Our company has extensive experience in renewable energy,”Rizza said. “We are involved in major projects in several countries,including wind farms in South Australia, WA, USA, Spain, Germany,Portugal and France. We are also involved in a number of other wood-waste power plants in Australia.”

individual clients. This is done at the company’slab in South Carolina. Once the appropriatemodel of hog is chosen from the range of 20-220 t/hour machines to fit the feedrequirements, Jeffrey selects the proper screenarrangement and selects the proper hammer tipspeeds, which can be between 10,000-20,000feet/minute to produce the appropriate sizeproduct according to the order.

Using a sawmill example; a large mill wouldcome to Jeffrey and say it needed to process

biomass material for sale to a pulpmill, whichrequired a 2-inch (5 cm) minus product. Thesawmill has a high volume of biomass to beprocessed so it requires a machine capable of

processing 150 t/hour, and, it will also need totake offcuts and cants. The specification isreviewed and/or tested in the lab and thedesired machine is selected to fit the order.

The Rader Disc Screen is used to screen material before it enters the hog

Because we have a lab

that allows us to dial-in

a very accurate and final

specification, we are

confident in what we

give our customers

BIOMASS IN BRIEF

BIOMASS



> Report: US biofuel technology in lift-offOver the last six years, a total of 2,796 biofuel related patents were published in the US, withthe number increasing by over 150% in each of the past two years. In 2007, the number ofbiofuel patents (1,045), including biomass, was more than the combined total of solar power(555) and wind power (282) patents published in that year. This was the finding from a reportby US legal firm Baker and Daniels.

The number of patentspublished from 2006-2007over technologies covered inthe report were; biodiesel(299), agriculturalbiotechnology (110), ethanoland other alcohols (42),biomass (41), and enzymes(35). The five countries, bylocation of the patent owningentity, with the highest number of biofuel patents over 2006-2007 were the US (184), Germany(34), Japan (14), Italy (10) and France (10). In the US alone, the patents were owned by 78different entities. In Germany, Japan, Italy and France, the corresponding numbers was 14, 12,14 and five.

“Our review has left us with the following impressions. First, if we assume that biofuel,solar power and wind power are the leading renewable energy technologies, then in 2007biofuel patents clearly dominate renewable energy, in terms of sheer numbers,” Baker andDaniels stated. “Moreover, if we assume that biodiesel and ethanol and other alcohols are theleading biofuel technologies, then in 2007 biodiesel came in first place, with ethanol andother alcohols being a far second.”

“Looking to the future, as venture funding and government funding inside and outside ofthe US increases, we expect that the number of biofuel patents will continue to grow steadily.In the US alone in 2007, venture entities invested $2.9 billion into the biofuel industry. Thisamount is expected to increase significantly within the country and around the world in thecoming years.

“In addition, the US Federal Government has allocated, for 2008 to 2015, $500 million ingrants under the Energy Independence and Security act of 2007 to promote the developmentof advanced biofuels. We also expect that the number of agricultural biotechnology biofuelpatents will significantly increase in the coming years as transgenic plant technology isdirected to biofuel applications.

“In the future, we alsoexpect that legislation directedto climate change will stronglyinfluence biofuel patents. Forexample, the recently enactedEnergy Independence andSecurity act of 2007 requiresthat 16 billion gallons (morethan 60 billion litres) of UStransportation fuel becellulosic biofuel by 2022. The

act requires that by 2022, 21 billion gallons (almost 80 billion litres) of US transportation fuelbe derived from sources other than traditional ethanol biofuel.

“Accordingly, in the coming years, we expect to see an increase in cellulosic biofuelpatents, and we also expect that traditional ethanol biofuel patents will continue to lagbehind biodiesel patents in the future.”

> Metso strengthens biomass drying technologyFinnish paper company Metso Paper has acquired a global full product licence for the SwissCombi belt dryer, Kuvo, in a bid to increase the offering to customers on the growing biomassutilisation market. The agreement covers the area of pulp and paper making and in powergeneration, according to an online news service.

The Kuvo belt dryer is able to utilise various low-temperature heat sources. Its dryingprocess is gentle to the product and it has high availability and high capacity. The dryer fitswell into Metso’s biomass utilisation product portfolio and promotes the expansion on thegrowing bioenergy generation markets.

Swiss Combi is a 50-year-old Swiss engineering company that specialises in thedevelopment, construction and custom realisation of industrial dryers for biomass. Metso is aglobal engineering and technology corporation with 2006 net sales of approximately €5 billion.

“Because we have a lab that allows us todial-in a very accurate and final specification,we are confident in what we give ourcustomers,” Sublett said. “Size and tonnageare the two most critical items. Once we havethat we look at what the infeed size material is.

“If we have large cuts like cants, that willplay a role in the size of the machine becausewe need to have enough hammer-weight todestroy that piece. Or, if a pre-chipped materialat 6-inch (15 cm) minus is brought in that needsto be ground to a 0.5-inch (1.25 cm) minus thenwe have to size the machine tighter to makesure we get everything through, which means itwill dwell in the machine longer. If you want tofeed a large amount of material through quicklyto produce that small an end product you needa big machine.”

GOING GLOBALJeffrey is a household name in the sizereduction industry in North America where itdoes 80% of its business. But Sublettrecognises the need for expansion and theopportunities available in internationalmarkets, particularly Europe as highlighted bythe Green Circle and Dixie wood pellet projects.This was part of the reason behind thecompany’s acquisition of Rader Companies inSeptember last year for almost $16 million(funded by K-Tron). Rader manufactures andmarkets pneumatic conveying systems,screening equipment, engineered storage andreclaim systems, and truck dumpers forprocessing bark and wood chips for the globalpulp and paper and forest industries. Thecompany is based in Georgia but it has aheadquarters in Stockholm, Sweden. Jeffreyintends to use that European base to increaseits business in Europe and Russia.

“We’re already global in a lot of otherproduct areas more so than the wood hogindustry, but I think there are definite needs inEurope for our type of product and I think wecan penetrate that market through the Swedenoffice,” Sublett said. “Our Sweden office isalready working in Russia so we will use themas a springboard into Russia too.” IFI

Our Sweden office is

already working in Russia

so we will use them

as a springboard

into Russia too

BIOMASS IN BRIEF

BIOMASS



WORLD WOOD CHILE

BACKGROUNDChilean forest industries have enjoyed a boomover the past few decades largely based onplantations of radiate pine and to a lesserextent, eucalyptus. Most of Chile’s producedwood comes from these plantations and isdirected to foreign markets, according to areport titled Chile: Forest Resources, ForestTypes, Forest Retention, Current Issues, andForest Protection.

The growth of plantation forestry has pushedthe industry into economic prominence as thesecond greatest earner in the Chilean economyand a highly competitive sector on aninternational level, the report said. To maintainits domestic and international standing, theindustry has been rapidly adapting with thechallenges of globalisation, new markets, newtrade agreements, and especially greaterenvironmental social consciousness.Additionally, the consistent development of the

sector based in planted forests has also had toface certain local problems and challenges.

About 45% of Chile’s total land area ispotential land for forestry. The forest resourcein Chile is divided into the native forest andcommercial plantations. The native forest areais more than 13.44 Mha (17.8% of the nationalarea), while plantations cover almost 2 Mha(2.8% of the national area), according to TheWorld Forestry Centre (WFC).

The native forest is noted for its diversehardwood species. This forest is principallyused in the production for the domestic market,for woodchip exports to Asia, and other productexport to Europe. About three quarters ofplantations are radiate pine, with the remaining25% eucalyptus, poplar, and others. Treeplantations cover less than 3% of the nation’sterritory and represent slightly more than 14%of the nation’s total forests. Nonetheless, theysustain 96% of the country’s forestry industry.

“The purpose of these forests is the

production of supplies for the pulp and paper,panel, and lumber industry which are thesupport of the Chilean forestry industry and theexport of the sector. Over the last five years theannual plantation rate has reached 100,000ha,” the WFC states.

PERU

B O L I V I AArica

Iquique

Antofagasia

SANTIAGO

A R G E N T I N A

CH ILE

SouthAtlant icOcean

SouthPaci f icOcean

Valparaiso

San Antonio

Talcahuano

Lebu

Temuco

Puerto Monti

SOUTH AMERICA

Chile’s forest industries rely increasingly on its plantations and plants trees at a greater rate than they are harvested

Forestry hotting up in ChileThe plantations of Chile have grown impressively in recent

history and are carrying the weight of the country’s forest

industries, but is the Government allowing its native forest

resource to slowly deteriorate in the meantime?

Chris Cann reports

TREE PLANTATIONS(2,118,836 hectares)

74%RADIATAPINE

SOURCES: 1994-97 CADASTRE AND INFOR

8%OTHER

SPECIES

18%EUCALYPTUS

PLANTING AND HARVESTING LEVELS

AVERAGE PLANTING RATE(1994 - 2002)

94,000 hectares/year

SOURCE: Prepared by CORMA, based on INFOR data

EVOLUTION AND PROJECTED PLANTATION GROWTH TO 2010

SOURCE: Prepared by CORMA, based on INFOR data

AVERAGE HARVESTING RATE (1994 - 2002)

46,000 hectares/year

IFI_PG22_25_Chile_World wood:layout 8/2/08 16:24 Page 22


WORLD WOOD CHILE

The forestry sector is responsible for morethan 14% of national exports each year andemploys more than 100,000 people.

Though almost half of Chile’s land mass issuitable for forestry, most of that is protectedbecause of the fragility of the soils, thesteepness of the terrain or the proximity ofravines and watercourses, according to theChilean Government.

More than 86% of Chile’s woodlands is madeup of native forests in different stages ofgrowth, mostly located on private orGovernment-protected land, and therefore, notused commercially. The Chilean Government,through its National Forestry Service (CONAF),is responsible for the conservation of thecountry’s forest resources and for theprotection of its native flora and fauna.

“Timber production is a renewable activity,since by law, all harvested woodlands must bereforested within a period of two years,” theGovernment stated. “The planting rate duringthe past few years has greatly exceeded that ofharvesting, with two trees planted for each onefelled. Thus, there has been a sustainedexpansion of these man-made forests from350,000 ha a little over twenty-five years ago tosix times that figure today.”

About 90% of these “man-made forests” areplanted in barren areas. Their timber helpsreduce the demand for wood from the country’snative forests and they also help solve twoprimary ecological problems – the greenhouseeffect and erosion.

Chile has devoted resources and efforts toresearch and development of silviculture tobetter their seed selection and geneticallyimprove seeds. “Consequently, today it can berightly said that Chile truly cultivates theforests it plants,” the Government states.

“In the past, natural forests used to besubjected to a traditional logging method thatbasically consisted of extracting the bestindividual trees for sawn wood, which led to agradual deterioration of the stands. However,today, anyone seeking to obtain an economicbenefit from a native forest – even if he is the

owner – is required by law to have a forestryengineer prepare a management plan, based onthe condition of the soil and the resource thatguarantees its future sustainability. The CONAFis responsible for evaluating and approving theplan, and supervising its implementation.”

THE ISSUESDespite the Government’s statement that Chilehas one of the highest percentages of protectedforests in that part of the world and theincreasing positive effect of plantations inreducing the strain on native forests, GlobalForest Watch believes Chile’s forest protectionis not up to scratch.

“Chile’s frontier forests today face severalurgent threats, such as illegal logging,conversion to plantations of exotic species, andunsustainable management practices,” theNGO organisation states. “Given these facts,current protection plans in Chile are notsufficient to safeguard these valuable forests.In the State’s protected areas system, theSNASPE, forest types are poorly represented,and reserve size in many regions is inadequate.For example, 84% of these protected areas areconcentrated in Regions XI and XII – regionswith low human population densities and fewforest-related industrial developments. Aside

from these areas, only a small fraction of forestin the rest of the country is protected.”

The frustrations of GFW in regards to theGovernment’s inaction on forest protection areunderstandable in light of a reported‘breakthrough’ in native forest protectionlegislation last year.

A law offering limited protection for Chile’s

About 90% of these

man-made forests are planted

in barren areas. Their timber

helps reduce the demand for

wood from the country’s

native forests and they also

help solve two primary

ecological problems – the

greenhouse effect and erosion

Chilean Government

Chile’s native forests host a great variety of cherished trees and native fauna


www.quadco.com


WORLD WOOD CHILE

native forests was approved by the Senate inAugust after more than 15 years of delay andrevision. “Never before has legislation beenpending for such a long time,” Senate’sCommission of Agriculture President JuanAntonio Coloma was reported as saying in localnewspaper The Santiago Times.

Most analysts attribute the 15-year delay tothe strong presence of Chile’s politicallypowerful forestry company lobby, led by theMatte and Angelini business conglomerates, thenewspaper reported. The lack of a material lawto protect native forests had given them ‘carteblanche’ to develop hundreds of thousands ofpine and eucalyptus tree plantations, whichoftentimes replaced native forests.

The Law was to be debated in the House ofDeputies and was due to pass with littlemodification. “The principle obstacles havealready been overcome,” Conservative SenatorAntonio Horvath said at the time.

However, critics say that the legislation isonly a small step forward, and that manyamendments are needed to make the lawstronger and more complete, The SantiagoTimes said.

The law was significantly shortened toexpedite approval and fails to address severalimportant issues – including protection of siteswhere biodiversity is particularly vulnerable –and still remains lengthy and convoluted.Senator Alejandro Navarro boycotted the Law’s

inauguralceremony andsaid the currentversion lackedstrongenvironmentalprovisions andenforcementmechanisms.

“This is a lawwhich shouldenforce thepreservation ofnative forests,but it is basedon a weakpenalty system.

Roughly 97% of the fines which CONAF handsout are not paid … CONAF does not have thecapacity needed to maintain such a system.Passing this law is the equivalent of puttingcops on the streets with toy guns,” the reportquoted Navarro as saying.

The legislation also fails to address nativeforest land-grabs, the theft of Chile’s protectedalerce forests or the shortcomings of CONAF.

The relationship between forest companiesand neighbouring communities is an issuegathering momentum in Chile, according toengineer and academic Hernán Blanco in thereport, The Challenge for Forest Companies inChile. “In many cases, communities argue thatthey receive all the negative impacts of theactivity – the effects of forest trucks on theroads and of pesticides on their crops – and fewpositive impacts associated with employmentand economic activity, the report stated. Someforest companies then blame the communitiesfor forest arson, illegal wood extraction, andanimal intrusion in their lands.

The report listed the following factors asinfluencing this critical relationship:• Historical problems of land tenure,

particularly in the case of the Mapuchepeople that inhabit the vicinity of forest land

• The pressure that forest development exertson communities ie. confining them, and theimpacts on peoples’ patterns of life

• The fact that, generally, companies are notvisible neighbours for communities, whichmakes daily conflictive situations moredifficult to deal with.“The quality of the relationship between

company and community is, increasingly, animportant dimension in the forest business.Whereas years ago it was the environmentaldimension that had to be included incompanies’ management principles, today therelationship with neighbouring communities isbecoming part of companies’ principles andmanagement practices,” Blanco said.

Despite its problems, the industry’s bottomline is healthy. The Chilean Wood Corporation,the industry lobby group, estimated thatrevenue from 2007 wood product exports wouldreach $4.8 billion, double what it was five yearsago. This news comes despite the fact thatdemand from the United States – the maindestination of all Chilean wood products – hadfallen. The percentage of total exports to the USdropped from 31.6% to 18.3% this year,according to a report in The Santiago Times. Thedrop in US business had been more than madeup for by countries like China, Italy and Peru.China was buying 15.8% of Chile’s total timberproduction and was predicted to overtake theUS as its main consumer early this year.

The record value of pulp on the internationalmarket also pushed revenues up. Pulp made up47% of forestry exports for September 2007, andwas selling at a record $841/t at time of writing.The export of pulp grew 81% in 2007 and was acritical factor behind the booming year. Furnitureexports along with door and window sales haveall been reduced because of the poor performingUS sector, the paper reported.

Early in 2007, around 7,000 workers strikingagainst Celulosa Arauco y Constitución SA – thelargest forestry and pulp producing company inChile – were rewarded with a 12% rise in wagesfor the highest earners and a 52% rise for thelowest earners.

The deal was brokered by the ChileanConfederacion de Trabajadores Forestales inMay. All other demands had been met prior tothe strike, which was called in response to thecompany’s offer of a 5% raise, according to anonline report.

During the strike, a blockade was attackedby the police during which 26-year-old RodrigoCisternas was shot and killed. BWI was callingfor continued protests to the ChileanGovernment in response to the violence.

IN PRACTICEMajor Chilean forestry and paper companyCMPC CAR.SN more than doubled its profit forthe first nine months of 2007 as world prices forwood pulp rose and production volumes grew,according to a Reuters report.

Company profit for the period was 188.389billion pesos ($368.5 million) compared with85.518 billion pesos in the correspondingperiod of 2006. Revenue for the period rose26% to 1.183 trillion pesos. The increase in

Eucalyptus plantations make up a quarter of Chile’s forest plantations

The export of finishedproducts from forestindustries continues toincrease

CONAF does not have the

capacity needed to maintain

such a system. Passing this

law is the equivalent of

putting cops on the

streets with toy guns

Senator Alejandro Navarro



WORLD WOOD CHILE

dollar terms was actually 32%, led by growth inwood pulp sales, the report said.

CMPC said a reduction in North Americanproduction had been outweighted by boomingdemand in China and Europe. The company’sintensive investment in pulp productioncapabilities over the past three years alsoyielded benefits. “Additional productioncapacity, greater forestry harvest volumes andfavourable price scenarios had a positiveimpact on the company’s operating results.”

CMPC said that even though the demand forsawn wood products was down, consolidatedEBITDA increased 20% to 347.38 billion pesos.The company’s main business areas are woodpulp, paper, tissue and paper products, andforestry products.

One of Chile’s and Latin America’s othermajor forestry enterprises is Arauco – a groupof industrial, forestry and commercialcompanies owned by the Chilean corporationCelulosa Arauco y Constitución S.A. Thecompany feeds off its vast plantation holdingsto feed its market kraft woodpulp, andsawntimber and panels businesses.

In Chile, Arauco owns the country’s largestarea of forest plantations, mostly of radiatapine and eucalyptus. It also owns forestplantations in Argentina, Brazil and Uruguay. Atpresent, Arauco’s acreage covers a total of 1.41Mha, with 930,000 ha devoted to plantations,281,400 ha to native forests and 200,000 ha toother uses. In 2006, the company purchased21,000 ha of forest plantations from CementosBío Bío, located mainly in the VIII Region ofChile. With the commissioning of the woodpulpmill of the Nueva Aldea Forestry-IndustrialComplex, Arauco will reach a productioncapacity of over 3 Mt of bleached andunbleached kraft pulp, representing a 39%increase compared to 2005.

The company has 16 sawmills (14 in Chileand two in Argentina) and six remanufacturingmills (five in Chile and one in Argentina). Theiraggregate annual sawing capacity is more than3.842 million m3, with a kiln drying capacity of2.757 million m3 and a production capacity ofmanufactured products of 503,000 m3. It alsohas one facility for manufacturing laminatedbeams in Chile with an annual productioncapacity of 11,200 m3.

The Lomas Coloradas sawmill andremanufacturing mill were purchased in June2006 from Forestal Cementos Bío Bío. Thesemills have an annual capacity of 260,000 m3

and 40,000 m3 respectively.Arauco has an annual production capacity of

3 Mt of kraft pulp, 2.3 million m3 of woodpanels, 3.8 million m3 of sawn timber and514,000 m3 of remanufactured wood products.Its wide international reach is the result ofsustained industrial growth and a significantincrease in its product lines, which has beenthe hallmark of Arauco’s growth in recent years,according to the company.

Arauco’s consolidated sales reached $885million during the third quarter of 2007, an

increase of 28.8% over the $687 millionobtained in the third quarter of 2006. Theincrease in consolidated sales is the result of astrong increase in pulp sales explained byhigher sales volume coming from the NuevaAldea pulp mill, and by a better pulp marketprice scenario. This increase in pulp marketsales was followed by higher sales of panelsand sawn timber respectively, the company reported.

The September quarter of 2007 generatedconsolidated EBITDA of $337 million, anincrease of 18.3% compared to the $285 millionEBITDA reached during the same period in2006. This growth is mainly due to animprovement in the pulp division’s EBITDA,partially offset by a lower EBITDA coming fromthe forestry division. Arauco’s net consolidatedincome for the period reached $175 million, anincrease of 7.7% compared to the $163 millionof net income obtained in the third quarter ofthe previous year. This increase is the result ofa higher increase in operating income and in

‘other non-operating income’, partially offset byhigher interest expenses.

OUTLOOKThere has been consistent, year-on-year growthin Chilean forest industries for some time andthere are no signs of things slowing up. Despitefalling demand from the US, companies such asCMPC and Arauco are reaping greater profits thanever thanks to rising demand from China mainly,as well as throughout Europe. A better pulp pricehas added to the prosperity of many companies.

The increased production stems from thegrowing acreage of pine and eucalyptusplantations, which are theoretically in tune witha sustainable forestry future. However, therecent legislation, for which Chile has waited 15years, does not go far enough to protect thecountry’s valued native forest resource. Theeconomic surge of Chile’s forest industries isset to continue, but several stakeholders arequestioning the cost of such uninhibitedgrowth. IFI


www.wallingfords.com


OPERATION FOCUS RUSSIA

Russia has the forestry world captivatedat present. It is home to the largestexpanses of forest on the globe and sits

on the doorstep to one of the world’s fastestgrowing timber markets – Asia. It is not justforestry professionals who have been temptedby the Russian timber bank. The opportunitiesare clear to any entrepreneur that cares to stopand look.

The Leo Hambro-led Russian Timber Group(RTG), now Russia’s second largest harvestingcompany, did not grow from pure forestry roots.The original acquisition was based on a mining play by Hambro’s father and theExecutive Chairman of Peter Hambro Mining – Peter Hambro.

In 2004, Hambro Snr and business partner DrPavel Maslovsky bought a harvesting companycalled TyndaLes, which was based in the Amurregion of far-east Russia. TyndaLes was thelargest harvesting company in the region andowned a processing site that the twobusinessmen were interested in using forprocessing titanium dioxide that would begenerated by their mining company, Aricom.However, Hambro Snr and Dr Maslovskyrealised the worth of TyndaLes and thepotential for forestry in Russia and decided tobuild on the asset. Chief Executive Leo Hambro

steadily built the resource base by establishinga private company called Tynda Forest Holdingsthat raised funds in 2005 to acquire severalother significant harvesting companies, alongwith a couple of processing operations. Heconsolidated and re-branded the group underthe name of Russian Timber Group in March lastyear and was preparing for listing in London attime of writing. That listing was originally

pegged for late last year and is pending animprovement in market conditions.

The group has three main divisions coveringits operations in different regions – the TyndaDivision in the Amur region of Russia, theHupex Division in the Irkutsk region of Russia,and the China Division. Both the Tynda andHupex divisions are made up of severalharvesting and processing subsidiary

RTG rushin’ to expand

A wheeloader in operation at SEL-Tairiku

A public listing is about the only

thing London-based forestry

company Russian Timber Group is

prepared to put on hold as it pushes

full steam ahead with its expanding

Russian business. Chris Cann reports

IFI_PG26_31_Russia:layout 12/2/08 12:29 Page 26


RUSSIA OPERATION FOCUS

companies, while the China Division consists solely of the Far-East Forest Company (FEFC) processing business. The group’s processing capacity at the moment remains relatively modest.

At present, RTG leases about 2.4 Mha – anarea near the size of Belgium – over the Amurand Irkutsk regions of Russia through itssubsidiaries, which contain some 200 millionm3 of mature and over mature reserves. Thelisting was set to raise about £100 million (circa$200 million) to fund the group’s seriousexpansion plans, which will make the most ofits vast harvesting operations by expanding itsprocessing operations to become a verticallyintegrated organisation. Though the listing was on hold, a private placement was likely to go ahead shortly so RTG did not have tobreak stride.

HARVESTINGIn 2006, RTG recorded a total harvest volume ofabout 2.1 million m3 of roundwood,predominantly of Angara pine and Siberianlarch, through a combination of mechanisedand non-mechanised harvesting methods.According to data from the Federal Service ofState Statistics in Russia (FSSS), the group’sAmur harvesting operations are the largestwithin the region, and timber harvested by thegroup accounted for some 41.2% of the totaltimber harvested in the Amur region in 2006.The group’s Irkutsk harvesting operations arethe second largest within the Irkutsk region,and timber harvested by RTG accounted for

some 11.1% of the total timber harvested in theregion in 2006. Though the 2007 figures werenot available at time of writing, similar numberswere expected to those received from 2006.

RTG has sustainable annual allowable cuttingrights of up to 3.3 million m3 of trees. The bulk

of harvesting in these regions is done in thewinter months, between September and April,and produces roundwood, pulpwood andfuelwood. Some waste (comprising tree topsand branches) is left in the forest, whilstroundwood and pulpwood are delivered to thelower landings, where the roundwood is gradedor processed and, along with pulpwood, loadedonto rail wagons for delivery to processingplants or other customers directly across theborder in China, Japan and the Koreas.

At present, the groups’s harvesting is doneby two methods – Tree Length (TL) andmechanised Cut-to-Length (CTL). In the case ofCTL, trees are delimbed, crosscut and sorted in

the stand or at the road side. While with TL, thewhole tree, excluding the top and branches, isdelivered to lower landings for crosscutting,sorting and piling. At the lower landings theharvested roundwood that is not to beprocessed is graded and, along with thepulpwood, loaded onto rail wagons for delivery.

Most of the machinery used is of “very good”quality and from Russia, however, Russian hasnot moved with current technology and willneed to be upgraded. RTG also uses someSwedish machinery supplied by Komatsu fromits Valmet forest machine range. The companyhas eight pairs of Valmet harvesters andforwarders with a capacity of 50,000-80,000m3/y. RTG is also trialling a John Deeremechanised TL harvester that has a capacity of200,000 m3/y.

Hambro plans to improve the harvesting sideof the business by increasing mechanised TLharvesting where appropriate; developing roadnetworks to reach currently inaccessible forestplots; replacing less advantageous labourarrangements; and increasing the utilisation ofharvesting leases to provide roundwood for thegroup’s current and planned processingoperations.

It is the company’s intention to achieve anannual harvest volume of 2.9 million m3 by 2012on existing leases.

Irkutsk RegionThe 13 forest leases within the Irkutsk regionaccount for 2.14 million m3 of the group’sholding. In 2006, RTG harvested 1.544 million

One crew typically

produces 1,500-3,000 m3

of roundwood each month

depending on the conditions

within the forest


www.jartek.com


OPERATION FOCUS RUSSIA

m3 of timber in Irkutsk where it has four lowerlandings with direct access to the Baikal-Amurmainline (BAM) Railway.

Harvesting in Irkutsk is based on the TLharvesting system. This harvesting method isgenerally favoured because of its lowmaintenance and operation costs. In Irkutsk,approximately 63% of the total wood harvestvolume is harvested using the manual TLsystem, and 37% is harvested using themechanised TL system.

Manual TL harvesting is typically done ineight-hour shifts in daylight by crews of sixlabourers, with each crew operating for abouteight to nine months each calendar year. Insome areas of Irkutsk weather conditions cancause working months and hours to vary.

One harvesting crew usually consists of twofellers operating with chainsaws and twohelpers, one skidder operator and one loaderoperator. For every two crews there is asupervisor, a mechanic and a cook. Crews liveon location in the forest in mobile housing androtate between two weeks work and two weeksholiday. One crew typically produces 1,500-

3,000 m3 of roundwood each month dependingon the conditions within the forest. Theproduction levels fluctuate throughout the yeardepending on the season and accessibility ofplots. For instance, in the summer seasonproduction is lower because of hot continentalweather resulting in lower accessibility due tothe soft soil.

Crews utilising mechanised TL harvestingoperate in one or two shifts per day dependingon the machinery. One crew has four operators,consisting of a feller-buncher, a skidder, aprocessor and a loader. The productivity of onecrew is 40,000-80,000 m3/y. The productivity ofthe mechanised TL system depends on thenumber of shifts and machinery. The machineryis typically operated for 10 months/y.

Amur RegionFourteen forest licences within the Amur regionaccount for 1.15 million m3 of the company’sforests. In 2006 the group harvested 542,000m3 of timber in the region, where it has 10 lowerlandings with direct access to the BAM Railway.

Harvesting in the Amur region is also basedon two systems, manual TL and CTL. About 70%of the Amur harvesting is done using themanual TL system in the same manner asutilised in Irkutsk. However, in contrast toIrkutsk, where mechanised TL is also used, allTL harvesting in Amur is done manually.

In the Amur region, RTG does a limitedamount of mechanised CTL harvesting, usingeight pairs of harvesters and forwarders. Atpresent, the mechanised CTL harvestingoperations are carried out by Russianoperators, while North Korean sub-contractorshandle most of the transport, sorting/piling andrail car loading logistics. Workers from Ukraineand elsewhere are currently being recruited tosupplement or replace the North Koreans,which were inherited with the licence and areextremely expensive.

Mechanised CTL harvesting crews comprisetwo operators, one harvester operator and oneforwarder operator. The use of the CTLharvesting method is in a preliminary phasewith operating techniques still being testedand, to date, productivity has varieddramatically and has yet to be satisfactory,according to Hambro.

PROCESSINGIn 2006, RTG produced a total of 185,000 m3 ofsawn and planed softwood from two sawmillsin Irkutsk and 20,000 m3 of parquet flooring atits plant located in China. At present, just 18%of the group’s harvested raw material isprocessed by its mills. Processed woodproducts are further along the value chain thanunprocessed roundwood. The Irkutsk sawmillshave modern technology and the Chineseflooring plant, which is currently in a start-upphase, has modern machinery.

“Our strategy is to expand along the timbervalue chain by investing in processingcapabilities with planned expenditure totallingapproximately $500 million over the next fouryears and to increase levels of mechanisation inour harvesting methods with planned capitalexpenditure of approximately $50 millionthrough to 2012,” Hambro said.

“We are very resource rich. We have abusiness that harvests an enormous quantity oftimber already but there are enormous marginsto be made in further value-added. We need tobe processing everything we harvest into oneform or another.

Irkutsk RegionRTG currently owns, or has interests in, threesawmills in the Irkutsk region: SEL-Tairiku inIgirma,;KirenskLes in Yantal; and Rudnogorskoein Rudnogorsk.

The group owns 50% of SEL-Tairiku through aregional subsidiary. The mill operates under anexclusive tolling contract processing the group’stimber. The company is considering buying theRTG’s harvesting operations recorded a volume of 2.1 million m3 in 2006

Our strategy is to expand

along the timber value chain

by investing in processing

capabilities with planned

expenditure totalling

approximately $500 million

over the next four years

Leo Hambro



www.woodmizer.co.uk


remaining 50% is from Japanese company,Tairiku Trading.

SEL-Tairiku currently processes timbersupplied by RTG on a “cost-plus” basis. Thecurrent operations in Igirma include lowerlanding operations and a sawmill with planingfacilities. The total area of the site, whichincludes the sawmill and the lower landingswith direct railway access to the BAM Railway,is 15 ha. The roundwood preparation areaincludes a Hekotek roundwood sorter with 48 pockets.

The roundwood is scanned with a Visiometric2D measuring system. The speed of theroundwood sorting line is about 105 m/minutewith a capacity of more than 8,000 m3 ofroundwood per shift. The roundwood yard isoperated by three wheel-loaders and has astorage capacity of 30,000-40,000 m3.

The sawmill in-feed line was modernised in2004. The roundwood is debarked with ValonKone equipment. The main sawing machinery isa HewSaw 200, which was modernised in 2004.The speed of the sawing line is circa 90m/minute. Sorting of wood with natural moisturecontent is done manually. The sawn pieces areseparated on two conveyors, one for centre cutpieces and one for sideboards. Defective piecescan be steered to a manual rip-saw. Stacking isautomatic for centre cut pieces. Four manualstacking stations are used for sideboards.

Drying is done by 18 Tekma Wood chamberseach with 150 m3 capacity and four Mühlbockchambers with 200 m3 capacity in each. Theentire production is dried. The current dryingcapacity is around 150,000 m3/y. The powerplant has six 10 MW boilers that use sawdustand bark as fuel. The power plant supplies heatfor the local village. The facilities include a newLedinek Superplan 5V-S 200 planing line withKallFass sorting and packaging equipment thatcommenced operation in the autumn of 2006.The planing operations also include another,older line with substantially lower capacity with

manual sorting and packaging. There is alimited amount of storage space under cover.

The total area of the KirenskLes in Yantal sitein Yantal, which includes the sawmill and thelower landings with direct access to the BAMRailway, is some 49 ha. The mill is located on arelatively congested site on a river bank. TheKirenskLes sawmill has a Hekotek roundwood

sorting line with 20 pockets and operates at arate of 90 m/minute. The log yard is operated bytwo wheel-loaders. The roundwood sorting lineoperates in three shifts for five days a week.

The roundwood is debarked with Valon Konemachinery with a line speed of up to 90m/minute that can accommodate log diametersfrom 80-450 mm. The main sawing machine is aHewSaw 200, capable of handling roundwoodwith diameters between 11-28 cm. Sorting ofwood with natural moisture content is donemanually, whilst the stick-stacking, whichfacilitates roundwood drying by allowing betterair circulation, is done semi-automatically.

The mill, which has no drying facilities, isequipped with an anti-stain handling facilitythat protects the timber from becomingdiscoloured as a result of exposure to moisture.The power plant consists of four boilers thatburn bark as fuel and, like SEL-Tairiku, alsosupply heat for the local village. There is nostorage for finished products under cover onthe site, however, as this site is predominantlya lower landing there is ample storage spaceavailable.

The Rudnogorskoe facility is not in operationbut could be reactivated relatively quickly ifnecessary. The site could also be used fordevelopment and/or the construction of a newprocessing facility. The total area of the site,which includes three sawing lines and the lower

Igirma Sawmill: Sawing high-quality logs sourced from the company’s harvest and will have anestimated production capacity of more than 400,000 m3/y.

Igirma Planing Mill: Planing high-quality sawn timber from the Igirma sawmill. The productioncapacity of the planing mill is estimated at 250,000 m3/y.

Ust-Kut Sawmill: Sawing high-quality pine logs partially sourced from RTG’s harvest. Productioncapacity is estimated at 300,000 m3/y.

MDF Mill: To process all species of roundwood sourced from the company’s own harvest. Theproduction capacity is estimated at 270,000 m3/y.

Pellet Mill: The pellet mill will specialise in utilisation of wood residues from sawmilling andplaning operations. The production capacity is estimated at 60,000 tpa of wood pellets.

Tynda Sawmill: Sawing high-quality larch logs sourced from RTG’s harvest. Production capacity isestimated at 280,00 m3/y.

Tynda Planing Mill: Planing high-quality sawn timber from the Tynda sawmill. The productioncapacity of the planing mill is estimated at 70,000 m3/y.

Tynda Glulam Mill: Glulam, also known as glue laminated timber is an engineered product usingstructurally graded timber laminations. The glulam mill will specialise in treating and processingthe sawn timber from the Tynda sawmill. Production capacity is estimated at 80,000 m3/y.

Tynda OSB Plant: To process all softwood species of roundwood sourced from the RTG harvest.Production capacity is estimated at 324,000 m3/y.

Tynda Pellet Mill: Specialise in using wood residues from sawmilling and planing operations at theTynda sawmill and planing mill up to 60,000 tpa of wood pellets.

POSSIBLE NEW PROCESSING OPERATIONS

Irkutsk region

Amur region




landings with direct railway access to the BAMRailway, is 54 ha.

Amur RegionThe total area of the sole site in the Amurregion is about 30 ha and includes a sawmill, alower landing and about 40,000 m3 of coveredspace. The site is and 18 km from Tynda. TheCanada 2000 sawmill at this site producessome 2,500 m3/y of lumber (with naturalmoisture content).

ChinaRTG subsidiary FEFC is on a 15 ha site in theBinxi Economic Development Zone, about 30km outside Harbin. The company is a jointventure between RTG-owned Universe OnInternational and Harbin Sauguan Industrialand Trading, with Universe holding an 80%interest. Universe provides FEFC with financialresources and has the right to appoint amajority of the directors, whilst Harbin SauguanIndustrial and Trading provides land andregional representation. FEFC was officiallyopened in June 2006, and installation of theprocessing equipment continues. To date, theplant has produced solid wood, multi-layerengineered flooring and three-layer engineeredflooring. A number of orders for flooringproduct have been placed and sales continue tobe realised. The plant employs approximately420 people, operating on a single eight-hourdaily shift.

FEFC purchases roundwood domestically fromChinese companies and produces a variety offlooring both for domestic and export markets. Itis expected that the plant will reach its full scaleproduction on an annualised basis in 2009.

MORE MONEY IN MILLING“There are substantially higher margins to bemade in wood processing and we are beingfurther encouraged by the Government, throughthe changes in the export duty and introductionof investment incentives, to invest into this sideof the industry,” Hambro said.

“To implement this strategy, our investmentprogram, subject to appropriate financing beingavailable, includes upgrading and expanding ofour existing processing facilities as well as,more importantly, the construction of severalnew processing facilities, which will beessential especially if the increased exportduties are to be implemented as planned.

“The new large scale mills will utilise state-of-the-art machinery and produce high gradeproducts that can be sold to the Japanese orEuropean markets.” The current cost estimatefor full implementation of these investmentprojects is some $550 million.

RTG has started building a new sawmill andplaning mill at LDK Igirma, has plans in placefor several more mill constructions, and islooking to upgrade both the SEL-Tairiku andKirenskLes sawmills from 150,000 m3 to212,000 m3 and from 100,000 m3 to 114,000 m3

respectively. LDK Igirma is planned to consume

about $110-120 million of the capitalexpenditure budget with the main componentbeing the sawmill, which will be supplied byEuropean manufacturer, Linck. The operationwould process about 900,000 m3/y of rawmaterial – almost three times the capacity ofthe current operations.

The roundwood consumed by the newprocessing facilities is expected to come fromRTG’s harvesting operations. The sawmills areexpected to utilise all harvested roundwood,while medium density fibreboard (MDF),oriented strand board (OSB) and pellet millswould use most of the remaining pulpwood andwood residues, which are currently utilised onlyto a very limited extent: “We’ll be turning a zerovalue raw material into a commercial productwith a margin so in theory it is a fantasticopportunity,” Hambro said of the pelletproducing operations.

“Going forward, we plan to upgrade andexpand our processing capabilities toencompass additional stages of sawn softwoodprocessing. In addition, we’re considering anumber of further processing opportunities,including increasing the processing volume ofsawn and kiln dried wood and maximising yieldwithin existing plants.”

CONQUERING RUSSIANROULETTE

Hambro said there were four barriers todevelopment within the Russian forest industry

– lack of infrastructure, tree species mix, poorpower supply, and finding good people. He saidRTG had overcome all of those problems andwas champing at the bit to expand.

“We’re very fortunate to be operating in anarea that has two railroads – the Trans-Siberianand the BAM, which allow us to get our timberto market.

“The species mix is not all the way acrossRussia. The area we’re in has very, very high-grade softwoods such as Angarsk pine, Siberianlarch and Dahurian larch.

“Electricity is abundant in some areas ofRussia and in very short supply and extremelyexpensive in others. The Irkutsk region issupplied predominantly by hydro-electricpower, which we believe has the cheapestelectricity in Russia and possibly in the world atabout €0.01/kW. The Amur region also has low-cost hydropower. Electricity is not available inevery operation because of a lack ofinfrastructure to deliver it to site.

“Fourth and most important is the team.Because of a chronic under-investment in theindustry for the past 17 years there have beenvery few new entrants in the industry andtherefore there is a lack of experienced people.If we had been a start-up company we wouldhave found it very difficult to attract people.However, we developed through mergers andacquisitions and consolidated a fantastic team,which I believe is second to none within theindustry.” IFI



www.heinrichburger.de


MagForestry, a division ofCanada’s MagIndustries,owns 100% of

Eucalyptus Fibre Congo (EFC), anestablished renewable forestryoperation previously owned andoperated by a division of Shell OilInternational (Shell Renewables).

EFC’s operations are based onthe planting and harvesting offast-growing clones of eucalyptustrees, which reach 22-26 m inseven years at which point theyare harvested and the areareplanted. Shell’s long-termstrategy was to establish arenewable, sustainable high-yieldsource of biomass for futureenergy generation. EFC hasdifferent plans. It currently holdsan exclusive 70-year concessionagreement with the Government ofThe Republic of Congo. Theplantation concession covers68,000 ha of which 42,000 ha areplanted.

Three contractors, a totalworkforce of 600, are cutting,debarking and stacking 2.4 mlogs. Presently all wood ismanually harvested. The trees arefelled using Stihl MS 380 chainsaws with 40 cm cutting bars. Thetrees are then cut into 2.4 m loglengths and then were manuallydebarked with machetes, but thisis changing with new Bellmachines. Each tree is about 25 min height, so each one yields

approximately 10 logs of 2.4 m.The average volume per tree is0.20 m3. The logs are then piledinto 1 m3 stacks or laid across asupporting log for eventualremoval.

The removal or the forwardingof the logs is done with Bell 225loaders and Landini tractorspulling trailers with a capacity of6.8 m3. The Bell loader loads thelogs infield onto the trailers. TheLandini tractors haul their loads toa central strapping station wherethe logs are strapped into bundlesthat weigh approximately 5.5 t.Two straps per bundle useSignode steel strapping; 32 mmwide by 1.27 mm thick.

An average weekly productionof 6,000 m3 was achieved in thesecond half of 2007. This isincreasing to 10,000 m3 for 2008.The arrival of the Bell 225debarkers has been important,requiring training of newoperators on debarking. Thisrequired about eight weeks foroperators to get to the fullproduction of 500 trees/shift (12 hours), or 100 m3/shift.

Equipment purchases in 2007 included:l25 Landini tractors

l24 Pick-ups

l6 Bell TDH 21 6 x 6 trucks with 14trailers

l9 Bell 225 debarkers

l2 Bell 225 loaders

The Landini tractors are used inthe plantation areas for manytasks, including pulling the trailersof logs loaded by the Bell 225loaders. Other trailers are thenhitched to the Bell TDH21 trucks,which provide the necessarytraction to be used in the forestareas on dirt roads. The Belltrucks transport logs from thebush area to depots on theasphalt road where the logs aretransloaded onto conventionaltrucks for delivery to the port. Thekey is to have available inventoryat asphalt depots for the rainyseason.

During the wet season(October-May) manual debarkingis easier and more productive butrain is a challenge with respect to

truck transportation. The companyis addressing this issue with amore focused road constructionand maintenance program alongwith the Bell truck and trailercombination. The dry season(June-September) makes logtransportation a lot moreproductive but manual debarkingefficiency is reduced due to theincreased adhesion of the bark tothe wood fibre, since very littlewater is being drawn up throughthe cambium layer from the rootsto the leaves, VP Forestry DanOrlando explains. “Of course thedry season brings the increasedrisk of fires, which we contain oreliminate through bettersilviculture practices, standtending and a proven firemanagement plan.”

Expansion in the CongoThe Republic of Congo’s largest private employer is a sustainable forestry operation that

is mechanising its log logistics and expanding with a chip mill. John Chadwick reports

OPERATION FOCUS

The arrival of the

Bell 225 debarkers

has been important,

requiring training of

new operators

on debarking

Bell TH21D truck

IFI_PG32_35_CONGO:Layout 1 12/2/08 17:52 Page 32

Mechanised outputOrlando explains: “With theadvent of the chip plant, which isscheduled to start producing inMarch 2008, we will be going to asemi-mechanised method andproducing 6 m logs.” The treeswill continue to be manually felledwith chain saws but the debarkingwill be done with the nine Bell225A debarker machines. Theseunits were all operational by theend of 2007. They are powered bythe four-cylinder (in-line) DeutzF5L912 diesel air-cooled engine,developing 65 kW at 2,000 rpm.The two front wheels are equippedwith 18.4 x 26 10 ply forestry tyreswith the two rear wheels having 18 x 15.5 10 ply high flotationforestry tyres. The machine’soperating weight is 6,300 kg withthe Bell debarking head. The nineunits are working 24hours/day,seven days a week. The expectedproduction rate of each unit isapproximately 60 trees/hour or 12 m3/hour. The debarkers areoperated by EFC personnel, notcontractors.

The mechanically debarked logsare cut into 6 m lengths andsorted into piles ready for infieldloading. “Where the tree volumesare greater, we will pre-stack andsort mechanically with Bell 225Aloaders,” Orlando says.

Once the 6 m logs are stacked,

the five loaders, powered by theDeutz F4L912 diesel, air-cooledengine developing 45.5 kW at2,000 rpm, go into action. Theyhave two front wheels with 10 plyforestry tyre dimensions of18.4/15 x 30, and one rear 10 plyhigh flotation forestry tyre withdimensions of 4 x 15.5. Theoperating weight of thesemachines is 5,100 kg with the Bell35 grapple. These load infield thefleet of six Bell TDH 21 trucks withtandem trailers. The Bell THD 21articulated truck with six 23.5 x 25radial high flotation tyres ispowered by a Mercedes BenzOM906LA six-cylinder in-lineturbocharged, air cooled enginedeveloping 200 kW at 2,200 rpmwith a six-wheel drive automatictransmission.

The rated payload of the TDH 21is 21 t and it can pull a 50 tpayload with the two additionaltrailers. Orlando points out: “Oncethe truck and trailers are loadedthey either proceed directly to thechip plant or to an intermediarydepot. A couple of intermediarydepots will be located close to theasphalt roads that lead into theport of Pointe Noire. Loginventories will be built up atthese intermediary depots in orderto allow the continuous flow oflogs to the chip mill, especiallyduring the wet season. We will

continue to use contract haulersto supplement our fleet of TDH21s. Contract haulers useconventional truck and trailerconfigurations and will be used totransport logs from ourintermediary depots or inconjunction with our TDH 21sduring the dry season.”

In 2006 and 2007, EFCcontracted out all loading andtruck hauling. In 2006 thecompany cut 160,000 m3 and thetarget for 2007 was 290,000 m3.The plan for 2008 is to cut/harvest500,000 m3.

All shipments to date have beenmade to pulp and paper andfibreboard plants in Europe andNorth Africa. Forestry operationscontinue to be streamlinedthrough the acquisition of newequipment, training programs andcompetitive contract harvestingpractices. Direct EFC employees total 245, in addition there are:

lThree harvesting contractorsemploying a total of 1,050employees

lContract silvicuture activities(planting, site preparation andcleaning) with 295 employees

lOne wood transportationcontractor employing 40 people

lVarious contractors, individualsand village organisationsinvolved in activities related tofire protection, stand cleaningand wood recovery for firewoodand charcoal; 740 people.

Log chippingEarly in 2007, MagForestry beganthe construction of a log chippingplant on its harbour side landslocated in the port of Pointe-Noire.This is a $28 million facility andcommissioning of the 500,000 t/yplant was expected to occur inJanuary 2008 with first commercialshipments of wood chips soonthereafter. The flow sheets areshown in the diagrams.

Sales contracts for the 2008production capacity of the woodchip plant were concluded in late2007. Prices for eucalyptus chipscontinue to be strong. Totalforestry product sales in 2008,which will be predominantlybased on wood chips, areprojected to be between $25 and $30 million.

The feeder deck into thechipping plant has a capacity of

Nominal chip length 19 mm

Maximum log diameter 500 mm

Log length 2.4-7 m

Chipper disc, diameter 3.36 m

Spout width 855 mm

Spout diameter 790 mm

Number of knives 16

Rotation speed 249 rpm

Moment of inertia (approximate) J = 21,500 kgm2

Weight of rotor, with knives (approximate) 19 t

Weight excluding drive machinery 30.5 t

The Andritz horizontal fed HHQ-CHIPPERTM features the HHQ11-XL-16 insert knife system. Its main specifications are:

OPERATION FOCUS

55 t payload of 10 bundles (five per trailer, each 5.5 t)




135/270 m3 sub/hour. It willaccept log lengths of 2.4–6/6-7 m.The feeder deck is 16 m long and8.1 m wide. The log belt conveyorhas a capacity of 270 m3 sub/hourfor log lengths of 2.4-7 m. Theconveyor length is 42 m, belt width1,400 mm. It travels at 1 m/secondat an incline of 5˚. A ring-typemetal detector is used for trampmetal. There is a 7 m long (width1,850 mm) RCS10 roller conveyorwith bark separation.

The LCI20 chipper feed chainconveyor features feeding chainsof 8.2 m in length and 4.5 mspreader chains. The speed of thefeeding conveyor chains (level) is1.4 m/second, and the speed ofthe spreader conveyor chains(inclination of spreader conveyorchains 6°) is 1 m/second.

The drive machinery includesfour electric motors (315/25kW/rps) and a foot mounted gearreducer with oil circulation andcooling. The chipper disc isbalanced and ultrasonic tested.

A 10 m long SWC 11/21 screw

conveyor has a capacity of 1,000m3/hour of chips. The nominaldiameter is 1,000 mm, the chip binvolume 26 m2, the rotation speed29 rpm and the inclination 25°.

There is a central lubricationsystem for equipment inside thechipping line (total 60 lubricationpoints), with grease lubrication forbearings and oil lubrication forroller conveyor chains.

Strategic silvicultureAsked about biomass, Orlandoanswered: “We do not collect theleaves, twigs, bark or woodremnants. Our soils are very poorin nutrients and it is critical thatthis biomass remains on the forestfloor in order to enrich the soil.Nutrients are released as theremnants decay.”

EFC is currently expanding itstree nursery to not only supportthe re-planting of all harvestedareas but also the planting of20,000 ha of additional landscurrently under application. TheEFC operations represent one of

Where the tree volumes are greater,

we will pre-stack and sort mechanically

with Bell 225A loaders

Screening area (upper deck = oversize) 1 x 30 m2

Screening area (middle+lower decks) 2 x 25 m2

Screening decks

Upper deck hole diameter 50 mm

Middle deck hole diameter 19 mm

Lower deck hole diameter 6.5 mm

Capacity 60 m3/hour

Chip length 16 mm

Rechipper disc diameter 1.22 m

Number of knives 8

Rotation speed 750 rpm

Handed right

Moment of inertia J=140 kgm

Net weight excluding motor 2.44 t

Grinding length 7.5 m

Magnetic clamping table Two 7.5 m by 150 mm

Pass height 180 mm

Grinding motor 20/25 kW/rps

Working speed 2-40 m/minute

Round head, diameter 350 mm

Central lubrication for grinding head

Coolant attachment with a coolant pump

Complete inside electrification

Automatic feeding down equipped with depth limit

Special tools

The SCS80-1000 chip screen is 7.99 m long, 5.4 m wide and 3.095 m inheight:

The CHR10-12 rechipper has the following specifications:

The grinding machine is equipped as follows:

The heavy duty chipper knife grinding machine is equipped with twinbeds, type reform or equal:

OPERATION FOCUS


the world’s largest renewable-sustainable forestry operationslying within a 35 km radius of adeep-water port (Pointe-Noire).Once the operations reach fullproduction capacity in aboutseven years, wood fibreproduction could reach 1.5 Mt/y.

“Our Kissoko tree nursery,”Orlando explains, “once theexpansion phase is completedtowards the end of 2007, will beable to produce over 12 millionseedlings/y. We will be planting1,000 seedlings/ha. As well, weare also coppicing some of ourplantations. Presently we arereplanting 350 ha/month andcoppicing 400 ha/month. Once wereach full production in our treenursery, coppicing will be phasedout. We are growing 12 differentclones of Euro Grandis in ournursery. We expect a growth rateon average of 25 m3/ha. We areharvesting on seven-year rotationso that our yield will beapproximately 175 m3/ha. Ourpresent lease of 47,000 ha will beexpanded to approximately68,000 ha during 2008. Theadditional area is composed ofnon-productive savannah lands,which are what the original 42,000ha were planted on over the last20 years by the previous owners.We are working towards ForestStewardship Council (FSC)certification and expect to becertified by late 2008. All sitepreparation, fertilisation,herbicide application and plantingis contracted out.”

Coppicing (the cutting of treesand shrubs to ground level toallow vigorous regrowth and asustainable supply of timber forfuture generations) averages 78ha/month. Total regenerationamounts to 278 ha/month, while

cutting averages 168 ha/month.Selected specific parcels are beingregenerated by coppicing (goodsites and growth rates, bestproven clones), to augmentregeneration capability.

Last year, planting was affectedby lack of herbicide in March andJune and lack of seedlings. EFC isworking with contractors toaugment crews in order to meetsite preparation and the plantingtarget of 1,000 ha/month in 2008.Capital expenditure in 2008 willcover the requirements foradditional seedling transportationvehicles and water tanks andtrailers to meet the targets. Oncethe 6 m log harvesting systembegins, additional tractors willbecome available for sitepreparation (herbicideapplication) and planting.

Expansion of the nursery wasabout 70% complete in lateOctober 2007. At that time workwas needed to finish constructionof the mother plant tables,seedling tables and concreteditches. Delays in completing thisexpansion project related to lack ofcement; lack of pressure treatedand untreated poles and lumber;and logistics problems in gettingmaterials from overseas (netting).

Progress has been made tomechanise the operations,including a substrate mixer andseedling hole puncher. InDecember last year, MagIndustriesraised $37.8 million, part of whichwas to be set aside to fund thecompletion of MagForestry’s woodchip mill and harvestingequipment modernisation.

Forestry research EFC holds a one third interest inUR2PI (Unité de Recherche sur laProductivité des Plantations

Industrielles), a forestry andcommunity research facility basedin Pointe-Noire. The other equalowners include the Frenchresearch group CIRAD Forêt andthe Ministry of Forestry for theRepublic of Congo.

UR2PI’s mandate is to leadstudies and research in all facetsof creation, improvement and long-term management of the regionsforestry plantations. It combineswork with different partners –scientific, technical, or economic –with the help of joint agreements.

UR2PI’s work hinges upon fourresearch programs: Plant material,forestry and environment, long-term plantation management andforestry restoration. The annualtesting area in place is 30-50 ha,for a total of 300 ha followedregularly. UR2PI’s work results inthe creation of plant material withstrong potential in thedevelopment of technical path.

New priorities include thequalification of the forestryplantations for world standardsrequired in the construction andpulp industries. Qualification ofthe forests for carbon credits isalso being investigated.

EFC is working on certification bythe Forestry Stewardship Council(FSC). The application process is

being coordinated by UR2PI. Adetailed management plan isrequired prior to the start of FSCaudits. A consultant has beenselected to prepare the ForestryManagement Plan (FMP) and FMPcompletion is expected by June2008, with FSC auditing andcertification in fourth quarter 2008.

MagForestry recently signed anagreement for the sale anddelivery of EFC eucalyptus woodchips to a major European pulpand paper producer. Theagreement calls for the delivery ofan aggregate of 268,000 t of woodchips in 2008 and in 2009 atdelivered prices in excess of$200/t (C&F). The purchaser hasan option to extend the contractfor an additional year at the sameprice. The first shipments areexpected to start in the secondquarter of 2008.

MagForestry also announcedthe signing of an agreement withMitsui O.S.K Lines which willprovide a specialised bulk carrierfor delivery of the wood-chips.This vessel will be dedicated forthe delivery of the abovementioned off-take contract.MagForestry expects to completeadditional wood-chip salesagreements in the first quarter of 2008. IFI

UR2PI’s mandate is to lead studies and

research in all facets of creation,

improvement and long-term management

of the regions forestry plantations.

Loading a trailer hitched to a Landini tractor


OPERATION FOCUS



OPERATION FOCUS

Alot has changed in the last 145 years ofsawmilling. And over all that time,German-based EWD has been there –

growing and evolving with the industry. Thecurrent company was the result of the 1996merger of two well-known suppliers, Esterer AGand Wurster Dietz, which came together to forma company capable of supplying the full rangeof sawmill technology to its worldwide clientbase. Most recently, Esterer sold EWD toEurope’s largest sawmill supplier by capacity,the Linck Group, in May last year. The group cannow claim to be the largest supplier to sawmillsin the world.

The words ‘by capacity’ are usedintentionally. While Linck is undeniably thelargest supplier because of its dominance ofthe plus 500,000 m3 contract market, EWDremains a major player in its own right becauseit supplies to the full range of markets upwardsof 10,000 m3 to 1 million m3. The companyturned over €58 million in 2007 and has 270 employees.

Technical Sales Engineer Thomas Lang saidEWD’s success was built on almost one-and-a-half centuries of delivering quality, durableequipment across the three technology ranges

– band saws, edgeroptimisers, and circularsaws/profiling. He saidthe ability to buildrelationships and adaptthe basic productranges to suit thecustomer was a winningformula and had been replicated in itsoverseas endeavours.

GOING GLOBALLang said the most exciting markets for thecompany at the moment were in South America,Russia, and France.

EWD was one of the first modern sawmillsuppliers to penetrate the South Americanmarket. The South American industry onlystarted to really modernise its sawmillingpractices in the 1990s as its plantation timberindustry took off, and EWD has been supplyingstate-of-the-art technology to the region since1999. As it stands, the company has suppliedtwo sawmills in Chile, one of the most

modern optimiser edging systems in Brazil, one of the few modern sawmills in Venezuela,and will build a modern sawmill in Uruguay inearly 2009.

Lang said the same technology was used inSouth America as in Europe, but with differentapplications to cater for the differences in woodtype. “The customers in South America areplaying in the same league as the Europeans –we’re talking about people who are operating big,industrial sawmills so the work we do with thesepeople is very similar to the work we do inEurope,” he said.

The growing plantation forests of South America are providing EWD with serious opportunities togrow its business

Proven productstested worldwide

Sawmilling stalwart

EWD explains where the

sawmill supply industry

is headed to IFI editor

Chris Cann

Thomas Lang

IFI_PG36-39_OP FOCUS EWD:layout 12/2/08 13:58 Page 36

OPERATION FOCUS

“But they have different wood,” Langclarified. “The wood in South America is largelyradiate pine from plantations.”

“You have to make an adjustment,” Langcontinued. “The way the customer employsgrade scanning is very important. For the highproduction, high volume European sawmillsthat churn out a lot of lumber for the buildingmarket the quality is not an issue because it allgoes into structural lumber – if you don’t havewane then it is standard and better, if you havewane then it is industrial grade.

“For our South American customers in pine,their premium product material is clear pinematerial that can go to Asia, Europe or Americato be used for mouldings, furniture and bettervalue products.

“Both customers want a system that can helpto get a better quality material from the supply,but the approach is different. A typical

European approach regards the high valueproduct as the centre product and they try to fitas much of that product into the log shape. Theremaining pieces referred to as the ‘half-moons’on the outside are filled up with side boards –that’s like the extra pocket money on top.

“The South Americans take the oppositeapproach. The high value product is the outsideboards, which have the highest potential forclear boards and they don’t have knots. Then youget into the knotty core that is of low value.”

As a result, the optimisation equipment isconfigured differently for South America and Europe.

When asked where the other foremostgrowth opportunities were, Lang answeredcategorically: “East – go east.” He was ofcourse referring to the booming forestindustries of Russia primarily, where EWD isinstalling its reducer circular saw lines and

The ArcoLine system is best suited for larger operations


EWD band resaws will be supplied to Russian operations

THE LOG PATH THROUGH THE ARCOLINE SYSTEM

1

2

3

4

6

7

5



OPERATION FOCUS

band saw technology. During 2008 in Russia,the company will install one new sawmill with aprofiling line and reducer bandsaw line for afacility with a log intake of about 1 million m3/y;one new sawmill with one profiling line for700,000 m3/y log intake; one new sawmill withone reducer band saw line for 250,000 m3/y logintake; and one new sawmill with band sawtechnology (combination of bandsaw headrig-slabber-carriage with band resaws) for 250,000m3/y log intake.

Though serious growth opportunities lieoutside the European mainland, EWD continuesto maintain its core business, supplyingEuropean sawmills. In fact exports actuallydecreased this year because of marginaldomestic growth. An outstanding performer forEWD in Europe was France, where a number ofsmaller “interesting” instalments were supplied.

“It shows the possibilities of a company likeEWD because we’re able to supply equipment toa full range of markets,” Lang said. “In France,the sawmills are generally smaller so that’s wherethe other EWD products and our flexibility comesin handy – our flexible reducer circular sawsystems, our board edger optimisers and ourflexible resaw systems.

“The projects in France are mostly under250,000 m3/y log intake so it’s a different size ofsawmills but we’re quite satisfied with the volumeof sales we have out of France at the moment.”

Two French sawmills will be installed in 2008using EWD reducer circular saw technology,which will allow both sawmills to increase theirlog intake volume from about 100,000 m3/y to170,000 m3/y. Both projects aim to increaserecovery by using the latest scanner andoptimisation technology from EWD.

The one main market EWD is currently notfocused on is North America. Lang said it washard enough in the past because of currencyissues but with the drop in the US dollar andthe massive decline in housing starts and theUS economy in general, EWD now has noexposure to that market at all.

A DEMANDING PRACTICELang said the demands from the customer wereuniform across the globe: “No matter whetherwe’re talking to small customers or customerswith big sawmills and large operations, onetrend that is extremely important is increasingrecovery and improving quality.”

He said there had been an emphasis in the

EWD has upgraded edger optimiser technology and now carries the unique Optimes system

The chipper canter is an inegral part of the ArcoLine system

In France, the sawmills

are generally smaller so

that’s where the other

EWD products and our

flexibility comes in handy

Both customers want a

system that can help to

get a better quality material

from the supply, but the

approach is different



OPERATION FOCUS

past on processing speed, which invariablycompromised quality and recovery to somedegree. These days with the amount ofharvested wood reaching peak levels,customers were looking to get more from thewood they were processing.EWD has come up with the ArcoLine system,specifically designed for operations with a logintake upwards of 250,000 m3/y as a directresponse to this demand. The system ensures apremium product. ArcoLine was developed overthree years and released to the market back in2005 at Ligna. It is a premium product and assuch consumers pay a premium price, which isanother reason why only the larger operationswill use it. At present, two large sawmills areusing the system.

ArcoLine is a cant scanning and optimisationtechnology that allows the straight and curvedsawing of cants. The first step is the 3Dscanning of the cant before a chipper canterputs into practice the best possible processingpath as calculated by the optimisation tools.The following resawing process can then beaccomplished by either curve sawing circularsaws with profiling units or band saws withoptimising edger systems. Different optimisingsystems are available that are more economicalfor smaller operations.

EWD has also developed a board edgeroptimisation system for board processing thatis not only for the wane and open face scanningbut can also check for quality – detecting knots,rot and all other defects. The edger optimiserOptimes was developed in the mid-1990s, andwhile other suppliers provide similartechnology, Lang believes the way EWD hasupgraded the technology of the Optimes isunique – at least in Europe. The company usestop and bottom grade scanning in linearscanning systems for continuous scanning ofthe full board length.

The board is placed on an infeed table, wane-up or wane-down, then passes longitudinallythrough a top and bottom scanning systemwhere colour cameras and laser scanningsystems check on both faces for quality.Following the linear scanning, there is anintermediate chain bridge acting as a transferconveyer, which allows full-length scanning ofthe board. As the data is processed the boardtravels to the edger for optimal cutting.

BUILDING THE BUSINESSLang said the relationship the company hadwith its customers was the single mostimportant factor in maintaining a successfulbusiness and reputation. He said in Europe,EWD serviced some family businesses that hadbeen using EWD technology for up to fourgenerations. It is the quality of the product andthe company’s ability to adapt to its customers’requirements that had established EWD as oneof the longest living and best sawmill suppliersin the world. That business ethos, which grewin Europe, is now being applied successfully in

Eastern Europe/Russia and South America.Lang said the company had built on its alreadystrong international reputation in these newregions with the continued delivery of qualityproducts and services.

“Now we’re in these markets (EasternEurope/Russia and South America) thecustomers know us so whenever they want toupgrade or install a new saw line there is a verygood chance they will start off by talking to ourrepresentatives,” he said. “People knew EWDfrom Europe but since we’ve been operatingelsewhere they know us from first handexperience in the performance of our sawmills –we can now build on that. The quality of ourproducts will always be able to say more thaneven the best sales representative.” IFI

No matter whether we’re

talking to small customers

or customers with big

sawmills and large

operations, one trend that

is extremely important

is increasing recovery and

improving quality

FREE SUBSCRIPTIONBe sure to receive your

FREE COPY of International Forest Industries.

Register now using the faxback form on page 55 or online at

www.internationalforestindustries.com

IFI Cover NOV_DEC:Layout 1

23/11/07 14:30 Page 1




HIGH PROFILE

The person who heads up John Deere’smarketing and sales for Europe andRussia needs to know their stuff.

Under their control rests the matureharvesting and pulp market of Europe,along with probably the most excitingemerging forestry market, Russia.

The individual who won the position backin April last year is well-qualified to take onthe challenge, having worked within theJohn Deere structure for more than eightyears and before that for a John Deeredistributor. He has the academicqualifications for the position but, probablymore importantly, he has a genuine love forforestry.

LIFE LEADING TO NOWSales and Marketing DirectorEurope/Russia, Arne Bergmann, moved intoforestry as a wide-eyed student atGermany’s Göttingen University in the late1980s. Driven by his passion for machines,the Swedish-speaking German completedfurther studies examining the computerisedbucking-to-order system in a combinedforestry and sawmilling company in Swedenin 1992 as part of a Masters degree.

A European Union Fellowship followed,during which he spent two years exploringthe possibility of applying the Swedishbucking-to-order system to Central Europeconditions, mostly with Timberjackmachinery. He completed a PhD thesis inthe process.

Bergmann was then faced with a crucialdecision – whether to continue along thescientific path or “get into practical, reallife”. As fate would have it, Timberjack’sGerman distributor Nuhn GmbH&Co KGoffered him a position to work on thecompany’s computer systems and continuehis education in a more practical sense.

Then, in 1999, Bergmann was recruited toTimberjack, which was absorbed by JohnDeere a year later, and he was made Headof Marketing Support Europe based out ofSweden. The academic come marketingmanager held several positions based in theNordic region including Marketing Managerfor Europe and Russia, Area Sales Manager

for Continental Europe, and GeneralManager of the John Deere retail companyin Sweden.

Bergmann said it was his time workingthrough the ranks at John Deere that trainedhim for this current position and challenge.“I have done most of the jobs I nowsupervise so at least know all the functionsof these various positions. That assists mein daily management,” Bergmann said. “It’sbeen a major step up in both the volume ofbusiness I am responsible for, and thenumber of people.

CLASSIC EUROPE vs RUSSIANOPPORTUNITYThe job is made more complicated by thedisparity between the two marketsBergmann governs – developed Europe andemerging Russia. “Continental Europe isfast becoming a mature market havingalmost reached maximum logging capacity,”he said. Forest logging figures have almostcaught up to forest growth figures andwhen those figures draw level sustainabilityrequirements will cap logging.

“That means that in the long-run we areprobably not going to see any growth inclassic markets like Finland and Sweden butin Russia we are going to see significantgrowth in the future – the annual forestgrowth potential is close to 1,000 million m3

but the realistic annual logging potential atthis point is estimated be some 400 millionm3, while the current logging figures are inthe range of 170 million m3. In terms of ourmarketing approach, we are treating theclassic European market and the Russianmarket separate from each other because ofthe clear differences in growth strategies forthose parts.”

“In line with growth forecasts in Russia,there has been greater investment into theindustry not just from the Russians but fromforeign companies as well. We hear of newsawmills and pulpmills being establishedevery day. This is a hot market at thismoment and it is a challenge.”

Bergmann said John Deere was meetingthat challenge head on with a “strong”marketing team dedicated solely to Russian

We are treating the classic

European market and the

Russian market separate from

each other because of the

clear differences in growth

strategies for those parts

Heart and head guideJohn Deere Director

Arne Bergmann

A forester with a mind for machines chatted with Editor

Chris Cann about the challenges in front of him as the

man in charge of John Deere’s marketing in Europe

and Russia

IFI_PG40_41_High Profile:layout 8/2/08 15:39 Page 40

HIGH PROFILE


business that included an office inSt Petersburg, a marketingdirector dedicated to Russia, andseveral Russian-speaking staffwho are familiar with Russianforest industries.

John Deere has been in Russiafor more than 30 years and hasgradually developed its sales anddistribution network so is ideallyplaced to make the most of thecurrent forestry surge, according toBergmann. “Everyone recognisesthe situation in Russia and wantsto get their piece of the cake. Weneed to keep pace with the Russianindustry and ensure that we stayahead of the pack.” He said the keyto consistent evolution waslistening to customerrequirements, which are specific tothe Russian market needs.

Bergmann has very little troublecommunicating with other forestprofessionals including clientsbecause of his extensiveexperience and passion for theindustry – he still describeshimself as a forester “deep down”.

“Based on my education I’mclearly a forester still in the bottomof my heart but my job has takenme along a different path. It isalways a great advantage to havethat background knowledge frommy former life – I can speak to somecustomers about the silvicultureside of their business and then to asawmill managing director aboutwood supply – and that helps me alot on a daily basis.”

LOOKING TO THE FUTUREOn the opposite side of the ledgerto the raging Russian industry isthe North American sawmillindustry, which has stalled badly.Bergmann said that forestry wasbecoming evermore aninternational industry andcompanies that were based inNorth America would start todiversify away from their NorthAmerican home, which had beenhistorically the world’s strongestforestry market. He saidinternational exposure for NorthAmerican companies was likely tocome through overseaspartnerships, specifically into thepulp and paper industry ratherthan the sawmilling game. At thesame time, internationalcompanies based elsewhere werelikely to limit their exposure toNorth America.

“We see big players in theforest industry withdrawing fromprojects in the North Americanmarket and investing in otherregions. The North Americanphenomena is a bit specialbecause North Americanconsumption is more or lessrelated to the sawmill market –there is not so much emphasis onthe pulp and paper market asthere is in other parts of theworld,” Bergmann said.

“Sawmilling is of course a verycyclical business that runs in linewith the construction market. Andone of the major drivers even forus and our business in NorthAmerica, whether it is constructionor forestry, is housing starts – thisindicator is at an all-time low right now and is expected todecline further.”

Bergmann expected traditionalwood producing areas that areestablished and maturing likeNorth American and Europe to facea geographical challenge to deliverto the developing populations,particularly India and China. Hesaid this was leading to greaterinvestment into countries betterpositioned for delivery and withmore growth potential like Russia,as has been discussed, SouthAmerica and SouthEast Asia.

The other industry trendidentified by Bergmann was theemergence of bioenergy – a sectorto which John Deere has begun todevote significant financial andhuman resources toward forproduct development. The latestproduct is the Energy Bundler EcoIII, which is currently being seenin Finland, but also in countrieslike Hungary.

“The focus on bioenergy fromthe forest has been growingsignificantly for the last one or twoyears but so far we haven’t seenany significant growth in terms ofour product sales,” he said. “Thatis predicted to change over thenext few years. There are othersupply chains for bioenergy fromforests apart from biomass withproducts like woodchips generatedby chippers for local powerstations and other things like that.

“In general, if we look at the bigpicture, the whole forest industryin the 19 European countries willconsume something like 400million m3 of wood in 2020, whichis close to the current rate. The

bioenergy targets will clearlyincrease the price of wood, whichmay reduce the Europeanindustry’s competitiveness. Theseare just predictions but it gives ussome idea where the industry isheading and underlines that a lackof wood could become a problemfor the European market.”

From the machinemanufacturing point of view,Bergmann said that majormachine development had justabout reached maturity. Hepredicted that current machineswould evolve in future years tobecome more fuel efficient, havebetter automation functions, andbe easier to use to help operatorsto work the machine with 100%efficiency compared to the 80%-90% currently possible. “We needto improve our machines so eventhe average operator can utilisethe machine 100%.”

CONCERNSOne of the underlying issues forharvesting companies at themoment is the competition forlabour. With the global economybooming at present, even with thecurrent downturn, there are plentyof opportunities for semi-skilledand unskilled labourers. Thecompetition for people is beingfought both between harvestingcompanies, between harvestersand other forest industries, andbetween forest industries as awhole and other industries suchas the mining and manufacturingsectors. Bergmann said thegreater forestry industry neededto address the problem ofpersonnel together.

“There is a lack of operatorsparticularly in European countries.It is difficult, and will continue tobe difficult, to engage youngpeople to become forest machineoperators,” he said. “It can be alonely job – sitting on a forestmachine for eight or 10 hours byyourself – and in the Nordiccountries you’re often in the dark.That is becoming more and moreof a challenge. It must be a jointeffort of forest industries,contractors and evenmanufacturers to grow the imageof the forest machine operators.”

AT THE END OF THE DAYThe task of maintaining JohnDeere’s success within the classicEuropean market close to maturity,as well as grasping theopportunities presented by theRussian market, is a demandingone. It is not often Bergmann getsthe chance to put his feet up butwhen that happens, he heads backto nature and often the forest.

A keen mountain biker usually,the flatter terrain in Sweden andFinland has seen him stick to roadbiking and he covers about 2,000km each year on two wheels. Butwhen the demands of the officeare put to one side and the lure ofthe open road is satisfied,Bergmann goes back to the forest.

“Like many people I like to justwalk through a well managedforest with a high diversity in treespecies that has been welladapted to the local climate. Thatis something that really interestsme whether I’m in the far north ofthe Nordic countries or in a centralGerman Beech forest.” IFI

John Deere recently signed off on a massive order from Russian groupInvestlesprom

IFI_PG40_41_High Profile:layout 8/2/08 15:39 Page 41

Sandvik ad:Layout 1 21/11/07 17:22 Page 1

www.smt.sandvik.com


OPERATION FOCUS

So when Murray Timber Products ofBallygar in Ireland came to USNR for acompletely new log line in December

2005, no one predicted that it would result in anew breed of mill operating with a hybrid logprocessing philosophy.

Murray Timber operates at speeds slowerthan North American mills, but is able toachieve comparable production. All logs arepre-sorted to within 1 cm, so the mill can runcontinuous batches of homogenous materialwith very short gaps between pieces.

The mill was replacing a CSMI (USNR) logline that was destroyed by fire. “The CSMI linegave us fantastic service, and since USNRproduces even better equipment now, we couldsee no reason not to go with USNR,” ProductionDirector John Murray said. “USNR is the RollsRoyce of sawmilling equipment.”

Murray Timber purchased a new USNRprimary and secondary breakdown lineequipped with 3D Smart TriCam scanning and

the new MillExpert Integrated Processing Line(IPL) optimiser.

IPL optimisationA new hybrid approach blends the speed ofpattern processing with the recovery ofoptimised sets. “We presort our logs bydiameter or pattern into 15-20 sorts dependingon length, which are then batched forproduction runs up to three hours long. In theseruns we hold a centrepiece pattern and vary thesideboard products to achieve the best fit perlog,” Murray explained.

USNR’s first pattern-specific optimiser, theIPL was developed to allow the mill to combinethe high throughput of pattern processing withthe increased recovery of sets optimised foreach individual log’s 3D shape.

The IPL allows the basic sawing pattern tostay the same throughout a batch of logs,maintaining a consistent centre cant, butallowing variations in the widths of profiled

USNR’s quad roll log turner automaticallyrotates logs for optimum recovery

Blending North American and Europeantechnology

USNR primary and secondary breakdown line equipped with 3D Smart TriCamscanning and the new MillExpert Integrated Processing Line optimiser

The operating philosophy of North American sawmills

generally is to treat every log as unique, while European

mills tend to pre-sort their logs in the yard for continuous

batch processing to achieve a comparable production

IFI_PG43-44_OP_USNR:layout 8/2/08 17:37 Page 43


OPERATION FOCUS

sideboards, and also allowing sideboards to be symmetrically sacrificed (first outerpairs, and then if necessary inner pairs) as needed to achieve acceptable finishedmaterial. No edger is needed.

Murray Timber’s European-style linear log line features three cant turners,three profiling modules and four scan zones. The scan data images and resultingoptimiser solutions are relayed from station to station successively down theline, enabling just one operator to run the entire line from logs to boards, as canbe seen in the diagram below.

Logs are initially scanned by 3D Smart TriCam sensors then move through aquad roll log turner where they are automatically rotated for optimum recovery,and down a single-length infeed to a horizontal chipper, creating a two-sided cant.

The two-sided cant is then scanned and turned 90o by a ring turner and lands ona rollcase on the way to the canter infeed. That scanned image is sent to the cantoptimiser computer to develop the solution. The two-sided cant is then fed into asecond chipper with a skewing infeed that creates a four-sided cant. The four-sided cant is scanned and turned again before proceeding to double profilers.

The profiled cant makes its way to a guided saw Quad Arbor Saw Box toproduce sideboards. Theprofiled sideboards exit to asideboard dispatch table andtransfer to one of the mill’stwo existing sorters.

The remaining centre cantis turned a third time andflows through anotherprofiler, a versa gang alsowith guided saws, and anoutfeed module. The centrestack continues on with theoption of being split at thesplitting saw module thatmakes the final cut beforeboards exit to the mill’ssecond sorter.

Mill impressions “The shift record to date is8,500 3 m logs. But we expect it to increase because our hourly rates exceed this,and we’ve only been in operation for six months,” Murray declared and added:“There is still some fine tuning to be done to ensure consistent throughput.”

Murray Timber is a family owned operation formed by Paddy Murray. His foursons have senior positions in the company’s two mills located in Carlow andBallygar, Ireland. The company was started in 1978 with a total of four people,but has since grown into an operation with over 140 people.

The USNR line supplied to Murray Timber processes 99% Sitka Spruce with topend diameters from 102-356 mm cut-to-lengths of 2.4 m, 3 m, 3.7 m, 4.3 m and 4.9 m. The mill produces a variety of items including pallet, fencing andconstruction products.

“We’re a one stop shop with 2,200 different products,” said Murray. “Ninetyseven per cent of our production is sold on the domestic market, which is a smallcountry, so we must cater to a wide range of needs.” IFI

We are incredibly satisfied

with the USNR system. Other

vendors could not, in our

view, offer a package that

would achieve all the

benefits we get with USNR

John Murray, Production Director, Murray Timber

Ring turners are used at various points in the line to rotate the cants 900

Quad Arbor Saw Box with guided saws removes the profiledsideboards

Profiled sideboards exit to a sideboard dispatch table and transferto one of the mill’s two existing sorters

Log at each stage in the process; rotation, station 1, 2 and 3

IFI_PG43-44_OP_USNR:layout 8/2/08 17:37 Page 44


The United NationsFramework Convention onClimate Change in Bali,

Indonesia, in December last yearwas cloaked in expectation. Theworld followed the two-weekforum hoping furiously for abreakthrough in climate changepolicy and some sort ofcommitment to address theproblem that went beyondintangible guidelines and flexible targets.

What we got was the Bali RoadMap, endorsed by the UN as themeeting the three objectives set atthe outset of the meeting –launching negotiations on a globalclimate change agreement;agreeing to an agenda for thenegotiations; and agreeing tocomplete them by 2009.

However, many onlookerswould not call the Road Map asignificant breakthrough. It didappear at one point that seriousuniform targets were going to beset before the United Statesinsisted on alterations to thecommitment for developednations at the eleventh hour.

But for all its perceivedshortcomings, the gathering hasdone some good. After all, howcan it ever be a bad thing whenleaders from around the world gettogether with the intention ofdeveloping solutions for arguablythe greatest challenge of thisgeneration.

One of the key developmentswas the recognition of the role our forests play. Withdeforestation in the tropicsresponsible for about 20% of allman-made carbon dioxideemissions it seems incredible thatthe issue of deforestation has nottaken a more central role in the past. Nonetheless, better late than never.

The vital document tabled inBali in response to this issue wasa study by the Centre forInternational Forestry Research(CIFOR), which warned that thenew push to “reduce emissionsfrom deforestation anddegradation,” known by theacronym REDD, was in dangerbecause of a routine failure tograsp the root causes of

deforestation. The study sought tolink what was known about theunderlying causes of the loss of 13Mha of forest each year to thepromise – and potential pitfalls –of REDD schemes.

CIFOR found that there wasample opportunity to reducecarbon emissions if financialincentives were sufficient enoughto flip political and economicrealities that cause deforestation,according to the research groupswebsite.

CIFOR Director General Frances Seymour said while theemergence of deforestation as anissue of importance was a step inthe right direction, she expressedconcern that policy-makers wouldfail to appreciate that forestdestruction was caused by anincredibly wide variety of political,economic, and other factors thatoriginate outside the forestrysector, and therefore requiredifferent solutions.

She said stopping deforestation

SUSTAINABILITY

The causes of deforestation are more complicated then most

policy makers realise

The UN conference on

climate change held in Bali

last year didn’t produce

the firm resolutions many

hoped it would but at least

the forests became a key

issue for the first time

Forestry factors finally rate a mention

CIFOR advises decision makers to learn from

the past and look beyond the confines of the

forestry sector to the array of market failures

and governance failures that spark a chain of

events culminating in deforestation

Frances Seymour

IFI_PG45_46_Sustainabilty:Layout 1 12/2/08 12:10 Page 45


in Indonesia caused byovercapacity in the woodprocessing industry was acompletely different challengethan dealing with deforestationstemming from a road project inthe Amazon or forest degradationcaused by charcoal production insub-Saharan Africa.

CIFOR states that complex,indirect forces are often moreimportant than the logging andslash and burn activities popularlyunderstood as the main causes ofdeforestation. The group citedforces like fluctuations ininternational commodity prices;agricultural and, more recently,biofuel subsidies; and roads andother infrastructure projects asfactors that encourage forestclearing. Deeply ingrained androutinely corrupt governmentpractices often favour largecorporate interests over communityrights to forest resources.

Seymour hoped the studywould help policy makers withtheir decisions. “Most importantly,CIFOR advises decision makers tolearn from the past and lookbeyond the confines of theforestry sector to the array ofmarket failures and governancefailures that spark a chain ofevents culminating indeforestation,” she said.

For example, according to thestudy, Indonesia, which isestimated to lose 1.9 Mha/y offorest, has emerged as one of theworld’s leading sources of carbonemissions in part because of aglobal spike in palm oil prices anda surge in China’s demand for

wood pulp. Together, these forceshave pushed deforestation intocarbon-rich peatlands that arebeing cleared and drained to makeway for oil palm and pulpwoodplantations. Limiting deforestationin Indonesia’s peatlands should bea high priority because the carbonlosses per hectare are substantial,CIFOR stated.

The loss of 4.3 Mha/y in SouthAmerica is driven in part by meatconsumption that encouragesconversion of forests to pasturelands throughout the region. InEcuador, road building has been amajor cause of deforestation. Insub-Saharan Africa, fuelwoodextraction and charcoal productionare factors behind the continent’sloss of 4 Mha/y.

The CIFOR report also sawpromise in the increasinglypopular notion that deforestationcan be addressed with financialincentives that compensatelandowners for “environmentalservices.” Seymour saiddiscussions in Bali to fightdeforestation by compensatingforest stewards for protecting thecarbon-storage capacity of foreststhrough what is now a multi-billion dollar global market forcarbon credit are potentiallypowerful.

“Such payments to individualland-users have the potential toflip financial incentives fromfavouring forest destruction, asthey now do, to favouringconservation,” she said. “But thekey question is whether or notREDD incentives will be sufficientto flip political and economic

decisions at the national level thatdrive deforestation.”

Delegates in Bali agreed to aframework for richer nations toaffectively pay for forestprotection in poorer nations butmany economists believemandatory emissions targets wereneeded first to create ameaningful global market.

Seymour said though theconcept was appealing, it wascritical to understand that due todecades of inattention to the rightsof forest dwellers, new paymentstreams tied to conservation couldintensify the severe poverty thatnow afflicts the majority of ruralforest communities in thedeveloping world.

“Since forest property rights areoften very unclear, payment forcarbon services could end upproviding incentives for corruptofficials or local elites toappropriate this new forest valuefrom local communities,” she said.

“We’ve seen this happen before insimilar situations, and there’severy reason to believe, given thekind of money now being paid forcarbon credits, that it couldhappen again.”

The report advises thatreducing carbon emissions fromforests will require strengtheningthe weak governance mechanismsthat have long proven unable toenforce many existing prohibitionson forest clearing, according tothe CIFOR website. Finally, thereport calls for assurance that theREDD process is fair to poor forestcommunities.

“We need to temper the desirefor maximum reduction in forest-based carbon emissions withregard for the legitimate rights offorest communities to realise theincome potential of theirforestlands. At times there will betrade-offs between reducingcarbon emissions and reducingpoverty,” Seymour said. IFI

Fiscal incentives may encourage developed countries to pay poorernations to protect their forest resources

SUSTAINABILITY

Payments to individual land-users have

the potential to ‘flip’ financial incentives

from favouring forest destruction, as they

now do, to favouring conservation

Frances Seymour

Deforestation in Indonesia is largely the knock-on effect of high palm oil prices

IFI_PG45_46_Sustainabilty:Layout 1 12/2/08 12:10 Page 46

CUTTING EDGE

Tigercat advancesmountainous terrain workTigercat has recently released a new levellingundercarriage and along with it a new trackcarrier model. The new R6152L levellingundercarriage shares the same design elementsas Tigercat's R7150L undercarriage, firstintroduced in 2000 and used on the L830C andL870C series machines. The primary goals ofthe new leveller were to reduce weight andprovide a lower cost levelling undercarriagethat would work well with smaller platformsoffered by Tigercat. The R6152L uses F8 (Caterpillar D6 sized) track

components. According to serior designer,Bruce Vaile, the roller bearing components usedin the major pivot axis are identical to thoseused in the larger R7150L levelling system. Thelevelling cylinder seal packs and ball bushingsare common as well. The undercarriage is 280 mm narrower and 4,090 kg lighter than theFH400 leveller but has the same track length.The bottom corner of the track drive motorhousing is clipped, preventing theundercarriage from plowing a furrow throughthe soil. This leaves extra power available forhill climbing.

The prototype undercarriage has beenmated to an 822C platform equipped withclosed loop track drives. The new model,designated LX822C is working in mountainousterrain in interior British Columbia, Canada.Feedback has been positive. The operators havecommented favourably on the track power andstability and also noted the low operatingtemperatures of the engine, hydraulic oil andtrack drive gearbox. The lighter weight LX822Cclimbs hills more quickly than the LX830C andwill likely achieve better fuel economy withoutgiving up too much of the stability that hasmade the 35,000 L830 series machines sopopular in BC and the Pacific Northwest.

In addition to the L822C/LX822C, the newundercarriage is now the standard lower for theLH822C, L845C and LH845C. The levellingangles achieved under the 822C platform are26o forward, 6o to the rear and 20o side toside. The 845C platform has more tail swing,causing a reduction in tilt angles: 21o forwardand 16o side to side. The rear tilt angle isunchanged at 6o.

www.tigercat.com


Vimek’s Harvester 404T is now in serialproduction, with a focus on export markets.This small but powerful harvester is aimed atthe important first thinning requirements frommarkets in the south of Sweden and Europe.Interest in harvesting without felling for roadshas definitely increased after the big storm(named Gudrun in some countries) that hitScandinavian and German regions in 2005, saysFredrik Lundberg, Sales and Marketing Managerat Vimek.

Vimek has been making four-wheel driveharvesters for first thinning since 2001. Since thenthe 404 T has been improved and developed. Thecompany claims the machine is today “seen asthe marketing leader in its segment.”

“The requests from the markethave now reached a level wherewe decided to go into serialproduction,” says Lundberg. Aswell as from the south of Swedenenquiries have also come fromThe Netherlands, Poland and theCzech Republic. He sees manyreasons for the increased interestof small, light and powerfulharvesters. The wind stormGudrun felled some 75 million m3

of forest. One of the reasons forthe devastation becoming sogreat was the wide branch roads,which made it possible for thewind to accelerate. “The markethas now started to look closer atsmaller machines and that is thesegment we know,” saysLundberg.

He also notes that environmental issues havebecome more important and small harvesterslike the Vimek 404T, are better for the groundand nature and offer low diesel consumption,while still being an effective machine. “Themain difference with larger machines is thatVimek machines easily enter the terrain verycarefully. The operator has good views andbetter control, which reduces damage toremaining trees. When no wide branch roadsneed to be created, less forest will be harvestedin the first thinning,” says Lundberg.

Vimek is a producer of small scale forestmachine based in Slipstensjön, Sweden,offering three different machines.

www.vimek.se

MECHANISATION FORSMALL-SCALE FORESTRY

Faster chipping of forest ‘wastes’Clearing and using previously unwanted logging ‘waste’ is becoming an important issue. Bandit’snew 750 kW Model 3590 transforms logging slash, land clearing waste, whole trees and brush intoa uniform, saleable chip product “faster and more efficiently than ever before,” the companyreports. Fuel chips for use in biomass and wood-fired energy operations are becoming more the‘green’ thing.

“The secret to the Model 3590’s power lies in its newly designed discharge system and one-of-a-kind feed system: The most powerful feed system ever developed on a whole tree chipper,”Bandit says. The feed system features a wide 965 mm x 1,016 mm opening that can acceptmaterial up to 762 mm in diameter. The four powerful feed wheels—two vertical wheels on each

side and two top feed wheels set on adiagonal—work to effectively crush andcompress limby material, guiding it to theoversized drum. Once at the drum, eight305 mm long knives reduce the materialinto uniform, saleable chips, which arethen ejected from the chipper through thehigh-velocity chip discharge system.

www.banditchippers.com

IFI_PG47_53_Cutting edge:New Spread 12/2/08 12:15 Page 47


www.austimber2008.com.au


CUTTING EDGE

Capable of processing multiple logs from 75mm to 585 mm, the Precision FD-2300 two andfour-flail designs increase productivity whilereducing bark content to less than 1% onaverage. The fully adjustable hydraulic systemprovides the operator limitless control of thefeed rate, flail speeds and rotations. Thisflexibility offers any solution to the customer’sindividual needs and maintains the highestefficiency rates possible.

The new four-flail debarker weighs in at43,540 kg with each drum being reversible andinfinitely variable. The unit is powered by aCaterpillar C15 diesel engine. According to ScottSmith, President of Precision Husky, the totalfeed system including all rolls is also reversibleand infinitely variable. The system feedsmultiple stems at 53 m/minute with less than

0.3% bark content. He suggests that while thissystem can process any type of softwood, it isspecifically designed for the eucalyptushardwood plantations. The unit includes aluxurious operator’s cab with the state-of-the-art comfort control seat for the operator. It hasa heavy-duty steel structure and is believed tobe the highest producing flail debarker on themarket today.

It is specifically designed to match the high-performance capabilities of the Precision Husky2366 Whole Tree Chipper.

The FD-2300-4 flail design includes a ruggedHusky XL-175 knuckle-boom loader with a cabposition that ensures superior visibility of theinfeed. The XL-175 is engineered to be highlyresponsive with a smooth powerful swing andperfect balance. www.precisionhusky.com

NEW PRECISION FLAIL DEBARKER

Husqvarnaexpands in AsiaIn connection with the integration of therecently acquired Zenoah operation in Japan,the Husqvarna Group will expand itsproduction base and presence in Asia. It hasdecided to build a new plant in Changzhou,China, which will replace Zenoah's existingChinese plant and is expected to go on-streamin the first quarter of 2009. The new facilityrepresents an investment of approximatelySEK 70 million. This will increase the group’sannual production in China by approximately 1million units.

In addition to the new plant, approximatelySEK 20 million will be invested in the Zenoahfacility in Kawagoe, Japan. This plant producesmainly chainsaws, trimmers, blowers andbrush cutters, and also manufactures largevolumes of components. The investment willenable increasing production of engine-

cylinders by about 600,000 units annually.The R&D operation in Kawagoe will also beexpanded.

www.husqvarna.com

HEAVY DUTYHARVESTINGSweden’s SP says its 591 LX “is a true heavyduty harvester head, purpose built for thetoughest of jobs.” The head is available in twodifferent configurations, one for debarkingeucalyptus and one for non debarkingoperations. Features include an extremelystrong and sturdy frame, heavy-duty, castdelimbing knives, well protected components,sealed joints, hardened and chromatised pins

and more, the SP 591 LX can, the companysays, “take severe punishment withoutsurrendering – it is truly built withoutcompromise for the toughest jobs.”

The SP 591 LX is equipped with state-of-the-art hydraulics and components and shouldpresent perfect logs, time after time, with thehighest possible level of productivity. Thehydraulics make it possible to handle thetimber with perfect pressure in relation to thediameter being processed, resulting inminimum fibre damage.

This harvesting head achieves its maximumproductivity on diameters from 100-400 mm(diameter at breast height – DBH) and isequally productive working in a CTL operationas it is processing from decked wood.

www.spmaskiner.se


CUTTING EDGE

With 15% more cutting swath and a load-sensing, multi-functioning hydraulic system,John Deere reports that its 700JH Series trackedharvesters—including the 703JH, 753JH and759JH models—“deliver more productivity thanever before.”

“From the agile, yet strong boom, to the bestservice access in the industry, the John Deere JHSeries harvesters have been engineered foroptimum harvesting performance,” said ElliottLittle, Product Marketing Manager for JohnDeere Construction & Forestry. Key to thatperformance is the new hydraulic system. Thenew system architecture and hydraulicprioritisation deliver power and oil immediately,allowing the operator to get more done, fasterand more precisely. The hydraulics run coolerand more efficiently, making pumps last longer.Improved grabbing pressure and speed isdelivered by 17% higher flow to the head, and23% higher flow to the main circuits providingmore power and efficiency. Swing torque hasincreased by nearly 20%, helping the operatorharvest more efficiently, while the 15% largercutting swath allows operators to make a widerange of strategic and productive cuts with lesstracking and travelling.

Sift-tilt technology gives these harvesters theindustry’s most stable platform for cutting ondifficult slopes—its four-way levelling systemallows the upper structure to shift a full metreforward, keeping the machine’s centre of gravityup onto steep inclines. There is a choice of threeWaratah head attachments and two precisemeasuring systems to complete the package.

The cab is among the most spacious in itsclass, with a clear and expansive sight line andisolation mountings for a smoother, quieterride. A fully adjustable suspension seatprovides easy access to pedals, levers andjoysticks located in the armrest. Low effortcontrols have backlit indicator lights and footpedals to provide a refined shape and tensioncontrols for improved comfort. The newPowerview™ monitor includes state-of-the-artdiagnostic capabilities.

Several features enhance serviceability andlower operating cost. New rear service doorsare designed for increased access to criticalsystems. A cleaner hydraulic layout with fewerparts provides easier maintenance and lessdowntime. The deck floor under componentsinside the machine makes cleanout easier thanever. An optional extended counterweight with

anti-slip edge and a convenient ladder helpsmake service quick and easy. And, the optionalFlexxaire® system is a pneumatically actuated,variable-pitch fan, controlled by a timer andmanual purge switch. At regular intervals, thefan will reverse airflow direction to blow debrisout of the radiator. The operator can reverse theairflow through the coolers manually using aswitch inside the cab.

“These go-getter machines really do makeharvesting look easy,” Little said. “A smartdesign gets you into dense, challenging woods,and helps you seize the opportunity once you’re there.”

www.johndeere.com

More productive tracked harvesters

Komptech’s CHIPPO 7000 is a new, mobile,high-performance chipper with its emphasis onchipping large wood trunks. The feed system isdimensioned accordingly and comprises frontdrum, conveyor belt as well as two in-feeddrums at the top and two at the bottom. Duringthe feed operation, fine fractions left behind aredirected past the rotor with the bypass system.

The shredding system has an inlet width of900 x 1,200 mm. The rotor is 1,200 mm indiameter. If this is not adequate, trunks can bebroken up beforehand using an optional woodsplitter. Easy to exchange screen bars facilitatethe production of different particle sizes. Givena power rating greater than 522 kW, hourlythroughputs of up to 250 m³ are guaranteed,Komptech says.

A particular feature is the “material-friendly”,energy-saving and dust-free discharge ofchipped material via the conveyor belt.Rotatable and telescopable at the same time,this system allows material discharge all theway around the machine at a radius of up to 5m. Travel to the place of use is reliable andconvenient as a four-axle truck. With its reach of10 m, the Epsilon mounted crane is then usedon site. www.komptech.com

MOBILE CHIPPER

STIHL acquire carburettormanufacturer ZamaThe Stihl Group is acquiring Zama – one of theworld’s largest manufacturers of carburettors forhandheld power tools. Zama has plants in Japan,the USA and China and recorded a sales volume ofabout $80 million in 2006. Executive BoardChairman Dr Bertram Kandziora outlines thereasons for the acquisition: “Zama is our keysupplier of carburettors. The Japanese ownerfamily plans to pull out of the industrial business.In making thisacquisition we want tosafeguard the supplybase of one of the corecomponents of ourproducts. At the sametime, the sale ofcarburettors to thirdparties opens up a newbusiness segment withgrowth potential for us.”

“Stihl has alreadynamed Zama ‘Supplierof the Year’ in 1997 and2001,” explains DaleGehr, president of USAZama based in Franklin,Tennessee, andstresses: “Bothcompanies have co-

operated harmoniously and very successfully formany years. We look forward to continuing thatco-operation in the future.”

Zama is a technology leader and a valuabledevelopment partner for the handheld powertools industry in the area of optimum mixturecontrol in small engines. One of Stihl’s maingoals is to further reduce power tool emissions.

www.stihl.com




CUTTING EDGE

Morbark has taken its best sellingtub grinder and made it evenbetter. The redesigned, highlyproductive Model 1300B TubGrinder offers a larger screeningarea, a longer mill, a roomier cab,and dozens of otherimprovements, resulting in a user-friendly, tremendously efficientgrinder. One of the mostsignificant upgrades is the largerscreening area and a longer rotor.Together, these twoenhancements make better use ofthe unit’s available power,substantially increasingproduction rates. Chuck Conkle, ofConkle’s Tree Service in Lovejoy,Georgia, USA, is a long-timeMorbark customer who currentlyowns four 1300A Tub Grinders, aswell as a 1300B. “The 1300B is animpressive machine, it hasincreased my production by 30%”,he said.

Changes in the redesignedoperator’s cab include a largercurbside window, newheating/cooling ducting, newwiring ducting and improved

ergonomic joystick controls. The results are greater visibility,increased comfort and lessoperator fatigue.

The Iqan system is a variablefeed and digital monitoringsystem that boosts productionlevels by reading engine RPM andadjusting tub rotation accordingly.This ensures a consistent feed tothe hammermill and keeps theentire grinding operation smoothand efficient. Other improvementsinclude new tub chain drive, solidtwo-bolt anvil, new wearplates onthe mill floor, new style conveyor,reduced axle weight, B-Loc augerdrives and Super Single tyres.

Retaining proven features fromthe previous model, drive trainprotection comes standard, in theform of a PT Tech clutch matchedwith a PT Tech gearbox. BothCaterpillar and Cummins dieselengines are offered starting at 650kW, all the way up to 745 kW. Inaddition, the machine can still beequipped with or without a loaderand track models are available as well.

Morbark also has a new mid-range power horizontal grinder,the Model 3800 Wood Hog, aimedat mid-range wood and greenwaste recycling applications. It isa versatile, compact unit that can benefit avariety of recycling operations.

A number of innovative designelements come together to makethe 3800 an impressive machine.A large 965 mm x 1.52 m infeedopening provides outstandingmaterial flow into the millchamber along with a generousrotor tip swing. A step-framedesign creates plenty of spaceunder and within the mill areaallowing processed material toexit the grinding chamber freely.Equipped with internal hydraulic

drive on the feed wheel, as well asa six-tooth drive sprocket on thebed chain, torque is increased toboth the yoke and the infeedchain, eliminating wayward debrisand congestion at the mill site.

Smooth, efficient grinding and ahigh quality end product arebenefits of the unit’s upswing milldesign. Complete with threesections of screen, the 3800 offers aroomy 2.32 m2 of screening area. Atwo-sided, bolt-on anvil is easilymaintained and, if necessary, easyto replace.

This unit also has the Iqansystem chamber. The dual beltdischarge system and loftydischarge conveyor add efficiencyto the grinding operation.

www.morbark.com

Making a good machine better

ASSET TRACKING OF CAT MACHINESIn North America now,Caterpillar will equip most of itsnew core industrial machineswith EquipmentManager andProduct Link, its remote assetmanagement solution.Caterpillar has provided remoteasset management capabilitiesas an option since 1998. ProductLink will be available as anoption for the remainingCaterpillar machines.

This program begins withwheeled hydraulic excavatorsand articulated trucks. Theremaining machines will bephased in throughout 2008,arriving to dealers andcustomers with Product Link asstandard equipment, along witha three-year subscription toAsset Watch, the remote assetmanagement portion ofEquipmentManager.

The CaterpillarEquipmentManager/ProductLink is a system that providesthe full depth of asset

management, maintenance, andhealth information required byequipment managers toeffectively manage their fleets.EquipmentManager is a secure,web-based application that useskey indicators from equipmentsuch as hours, location anddiagnostic codes. Combinedwith powerful tools such asmapping, maintenancescheduling and troubleshootinginstructions, EquipmentManagerquickly sorts through machinedata to identify events thatrequire attention and deliversinformation in a meaningful andactionable manner.

Using satellite technology,Product Link is the hardwarethat enables information flowbetween on-board systems andthe web basedEquipmentManager. The remotemanagement system providesmachine location and hours aswell as time and geo-fencingcapabilities. www.cat.com


www.kwf-tagung.de


www.woodwideweb.com

NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2007 | International Forest Industries 53

CUTTING EDGE

LUBRICATE MACHINES IN THE FOREST

Finland’s Pinox has signed a longterm agreement with its Russiancollaboration partner HarvyForester. This includes thecomponent deliveries for 40forwarders and 40 harvesters toRussia over the next three years

and is a continuation of the co-operation between the companiesthat started in 2005. Finalassembly of the machines willtake place at the Harvy Foresterfactory in Karhumäki. Deliveries ofthe machines will start this spring.

The agreement also includes aplan for mutual construction anddesign of new machines to bemarketed in Russia. HarvyForester specialises in marketingforest machines and products ofwood processing. The companyhas its own sawmill in Karhumäkiand another was to be completedin Arkhangelsk late last year. Theannual capacity for these sawmills is about 200,000 m3 of sawnproducts.

Procurement of raw material forthese saw mills will employ someof these new machines. HarvyForester has invested a lot inwood processing and has a strongmarket position in Karelia,together with Pinox. “Thereforethis agreement is a naturalcontinuation for our developmentof the business, says DirectorMikhail Zdor from Harvy Forester.

“This agreement is for ourcompany of high importance andgives the basic load for ourproduction. We act on the Russianmarket on the whole forestharvesting sector, but concentrateon other markets very strongly indeveloping and marketing ofmachines for bio energyharvesting,” explains PinoxManaging Director Erkki Kare.

“The strongest market for Pinoxmachines for bio energyharvesting is Germany, where useof this increases very rapidly. TheMultimachines of Pinox can easilyand quickly be convertedaccording to the different worksand suit also very well to therequirements of small workingsites and seasonal changes ofharvesting,” says Pinox SalesManager Kauko Papunen. www.pinox.com

Radio remotecontrol forcable winchesThe F9 has been speciallydesigned for the ruggedconditions of forestry use. Highquality electronics in a robusthousing make the F9 an idealcontroller for professionalskidding and pulling work. If agiven channel is already in usewhen working together, you caneasily change to a free channelon the transmitter, choosingfrom the six channels provided.This assures interruption-freeremote control of equipmentand thus reliable workingconditions.

Small, light and easy tohandle, the transmitter can becarried at the hip or on thechest. The ergonomic layout ofthe controls permits fatigue-free, reliable operation evenwhen wearing gloves.

Depending on the model,double or single drum winchesof all makes can be controlled.Besides the standard functions,the control has a "MotorOn/Off" function and anadditional three furthercommands for operating specialfunctions.

The receiver has its owndiagnosis field to indicate thestatus of all important outputfunctions and systemmessages. This permits rapidassessment of the status of theequipment on site. The receiverelectronics are contained in arobust aluminium profilehousing and protected againstdust and splashing water(Protection to IP 65). The flatdesign facilitates space-savingmounting in the vehicle.

www.forest-frequency.com

Madill introduces new T1250feller buncher to industryLeadingharvestingmachinesupplier, MadillEquipmentCanada, hasreleased theT1250 fellerbuncher to themarket. Madillnow offers sevenmodels of fellerbunchers to theindustry andthese carriers areall capable ofbeing convertedto purpose-builtharvesters. The product is powered by a Tier 3 Isuzu 6HK1X7.8 litre, 285H.P turbo charged diesel engine.

Among its standout features, the T1250 has a Linde load-sensinghydraulic system, which gives tuneable multi-function capability, and anHD D7 size tilting undercarriage with 27˚ forward tilt, side-tilt and eightrollers with simple and easy access.

The latest model comes with Madill’s well established fabricatedboom front and car body assemblies as well as a Madill forestry cabthat carries full instrumentation, alarm system, air-ride heated seat, andair conditioning.

The tractive effort is a powerful 70,000 lb compared to the machine’soverall weight of about 67,000 lb including the saw head. The fellerbuncher comes with the Madill MTT22" high capacity ‘hot saw’, whichhas a 360˚ tilt. www.forest-frequency.com

BIG SALES FOR PINOX IN KARELIA

QT Equipment has unveiled a lubetrailer that, it says, can savecustomers up to 60% on lifetimecosts when compared withtraditional lube trucks. It reducescosts and improves flexibility forcompanies that perform lubeservices in the field. The self-powered QT Lube Trailer can deliverseveral fluids to the jobsite,including new oil products, salvageand grease. The unit also featureslocking storage compartments andcan carry items such as work lightsor an air compressor. Product tanksare made of light, contamination-resistant polyethylene, which is80% lighter than steel. Otheradvantages of poly tanks includecleaner fluid storage, UV resistance,easier tank replacement andcontamination control. The tanks,which can be heated for cold

applications, come with a five-yearwarranty. Customers can also add asteel tank for carrying diesel fueldepending on local regulations.

“We are always trying to help ourcustomers come up with ways toimprove their operations,” saidRobert Allee, General Manager atQT, which is a single-line distributorfor Iowa Mold Tooling (IMT).

The lube equipment is mountedonto a trailer. Typically, traditionallube units mount this equipmenton a chassis. Trailer-mounted lubeequipment enables service fleetsto significantly reduce costs byavoiding the expenses that comewith having a separate lube truck,such as chassis maintenance, fuel,an extra driver and insurance. Italso means a significantly reducedinitial investment.

www.lubetrailer.com


Svenska Massan ad:Layout 1 21/11/07 17:24 Page 1

www.traochteknik.se

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In which of these sectors do you work?01 ■■ Silviculture/reforestation 06 ■■ Timber harvesting02 ■■ Biomass 07 ■■ Timber haulage03 ■■ Saw Mill 08 ■■ Forest management04 ■■ Woodlands dept. of pulp & paper company 09 ■■ Equipment manufacturer05 ■■ Consultancy 10 ■■ Other:

Are you in hardwood or softwood?01 ■■ Hardwood 02 ■■ Softwood

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IFI_PG55_SUBS FORM:Layout 1 12/2/08 12:21 Page 1

MARCH 3-8:

AUSTimber 2008 in Mt Gambia, South Australia. Run by Australian Forest Contractors Association.www.austimber2008.com.au

MARCH 12-14:

2008 Wood Technology Clinic in Oregon, US.Debuting in 1972, the Wood Technology Clinic& Show is the only trade event exclusivelydedicated to primary wood processing andtechnology setting a standard unmatched byany other industry event to date.www.woodtechexpo.com/woodtech/index.jsp

APRIL

Forest-Tech 2008Tools & Technologies to Improve ForestPlanning & Operations, in Albury Australia. Runby Innovatek.• New technologies for improving plantation

silviculture• Developments in data collection tools and

forest management information systems• Innovations in remote sensing for forest

inventory and mapping• Scanning systems for determining internal

log defectswww.fiea.org.nz/calendar/2008-ForestTech.html

JUNE 3-6:

Wenet Conference 2008Wood Energy Solutions in Koli, North Karelia,Finland. Run by Wenet. The 2008 Conferencewill feature presentations by experts in thewood energy field, highlighting both newheating systems and ways to replace non-renewable fuels completely or partly with woodfuels in older heating systems or combined heatand power plants (CHP). The latestdevelopments in business models such as heatentrepreneurship will also be presented.www.wenet.fi/eng/cfmldocs/index.cfm?ID=1287

JUNE 4-7:

15th KWF Summit in Schmallenberg,Germany• Live presentation of forest technology in the

windthrow area• Topical: municipal technology, components,

transport,energy technology• Over 400 exhibitors from 18 countries• Over 35 000 visitors

• Over 90 000 m² net exhibition area• Special show BioEnergy Wood• FKM-certifiedwww.kwf-tagung.de

JUNE 5-7:

Forest Expo 2008 Prince George, BC Run by Forest and Resources Expo. Atradeshow with an international focusfeaturing Seminars, Limited Live ActionDemonstrations and Guest Speakers.www.forestexpo.bc.ca/Web/Screen.aspx?ScreenID=1&ID=859

JUNE 11-13:

Forexpo Technopole Montesquieu(Gironde), FranceThe European trade fair for silviculture and loggingwww.forexpo.fr

JUNE

ScanTech 2008 in Rotorua, New Zealandand Brisbane, Australia. Run by Forest Industry Engineering Association.www.fiea.org.nz/calendar/2008-ScanTech.html

AUGUST 27-30:

Wood Products & Technology 2008The Swedish Exhibition Centre,Goteborg SwedenSawmills and sawmill equipment will bespecially themed at the exhibition.http://nemonet.swefair.se/templates/StartPageMain____993.aspx?epslanguage=EN

AUGUST 28-30:

FinnMETKO 2008Jämsänkoski, FINLANDwww.finnmetko.fi

SEPTEMBER 18-20:

APF International Forest MachineryExhibition 2008 in Staffordshire, UK.The APF Exhibition is the largest exhibition anddisplay of forestry, woodland, arboriculture,utilities and estate management machinery,equipment, supplies and services in the UK. www.apfexhibition.co.uk

SEPTEMBER

Wood Harvest Optimisation 2008 inMelbourne, Australia andRoturua, New ZealandRun by Innovatek.www.innovatek.co.nz/conferences_and_events.html


ADVERTISER’S INDEX

AusTimber 2008 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48www.austimber2008.com.au

Burger-Klemmbank . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31www.heinrichburger.de

Comact . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11www.comact.com

ESRI . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . IBCwww.esri.com/forestry

Jartek Group . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27www.jartek.com

Kalmar Industries . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . OBCwww.kalmarind.com

KWF . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51www.Kwf-tagung.de

Komatsu . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17www.komatsuforest.com/heroes

Log Max . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2www.logmax.com

Nielsen/Wood Technology . . . . . . . . . . 52www.woodwideweb.com

Precision Husky . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19www.precisionhusky.com

Madill . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ISFCwww.madillequipment.com

MagIndustries . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . FCwww.magindustries.com

Quadco . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23www.quadco.com

Sandvik . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42www.smt.sandvik.com

Svenskamassen . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54www.traochteknik.se

USNR . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9www.usnr.com

Volvo . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7www.volvoce.com

Wallingfords Inc . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25www.wallingfords.com

WoodMizer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29www.woodmizer.co.uk

SALES REPRESENTATIVESUK, Europe, South Africa, US East Coast, & CanadaCONTACT: Phil Playle or David LansdowneLansdowne Media Services LtdTel: +44 (0)1442 877 777Fax: +44 (0)1442 870 617Email: [email protected] [email protected]

JapanCONTACT: Yuko IshiharaJapan Advertising Communications, Inc.Star Bldg., 3-10-3 Kanda JimbochoChiyoda-ku, Tokyo 101-0051Tel: 81-3-3261-4591Fax: 81-3-3261-6126Email: [email protected]

Western USA (AZ, CA, NV, UT) Australia, & New ZealandCONTACT: George RomanRoy McDonald Associates, Inc4779 Luna Ridge Court, Las Vegas NV 89129, USATel: +1 (702) 515 7247Fax: +1 (702) 515 7248Email: [email protected]

Western USA (MT, ID, OR,WA)CONTACT: Bob WarrenLansdowne Media Services LtdTel: +44 (0)1442 877 777Fax: +44 (0)1442 870 617Email: [email protected]

US Mid-West, Central & MountainCONTACT: Kevin LaphamJ.P.Media Inc1163 E.Ogden Ave, Ste. 705-359 NapervilleIL 60563, USATel: +1 (630) 420 9752Fax: +1 (630) 420 9763Email: [email protected]

South AmericaCONTACT: Ricardo CortésEditec S.A.Avda del Cóndor 844 Of. 205, Cuidad Empresarial -Huechuraba, Santiago, ChileTel: +56 2 757 4200Fax: +56 2 757 4201Email: [email protected]

SHOW CALENDAR 2008SALES OFFICES

IFI_PG56_Advert Index:layout 12/2/08 13:55 Page 48

ESRI ad:Layout 1 22/11/07 16:41 Page 1

www.esri.com/forestry

Kalmar ad FP:Layout 1 20/11/07 13:54 Page 1

www.kalmarind.com

international forest magazine 2008

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