Setra starts local purchases of sawlogs for Vimmerby sawmill

During the autumn, Setra will start a local purchasing operation for procurement of raw material for the Vimmerby sawmill.

Setra, Sweden’s largest wood products company, operates sawmills and wood processing operations from Kalix in the north to Vimmerby in the south. The Group’s total annual consumption of timber raw material is approximately 5 million cubic metres. The largest suppliers of sawlogs for Setra’s sawmills are Sveaskog and Mellanskog. In Sweden’s Norrbotten and Västerbotten regions Setra already has its own local raw material buyers for Rolfs and Malå sawmills.

“Setra’s aim is to have at least two raw material suppliers for each sawmill,” says Tor Marntell, Raw Materials Manager at Setra. “Until today we only had one supplier in the Vimmerby area and we are now complementing this with our own purchasing organisation. By making our own purchases, we will acquire a clearer picture of movements in the timber market.”

“We will be a local buyer for Vimmerby sawmill which will allow forest owners to feel a personal involvement from their timber buyer,” explains Magnus Olsson, South Region Field Manager. “Our timber buyers will in relation to the forest owner take responsibility for the entire felling process, from initial contact to financial accounting.”.

The three newly recruited timber buyers who will start in the autumn are:
Christer Ekström, 54, most recently employed as a felling manager at Sveaskog, Viktor Martinsson, 24, who brings with him a recent degree in forest engineering, and Evert Nilsson, 58, who has major experience of the Vimmerby forests after 30 years as a felling contractor in the area.

“The greatest advantage of having our own purchasing operations is that this will give us a closer dialogue with the forest and therefore greater opportunities to customise products at an early phase of the process,” says Eleonor Hansson, Manager of Vimmerby sawmill.

Setra’s sawmill in Vimmerby has some 70 employees and is a specialised redwood sawmill. In 2007 a total of 190,000 m3 was sawn at the mill and the estimated volume for 2008 is 160,000 m3. Setra will purchase both delivery timber and standing timber from final felling and thinning. The timber that is not consumed at the Vimmerby sawmill will be sold on to other local companies.