New record year for Valutec – sales of 43 million after export success

Valutec continued to grow last year. During 2018, the group had a total turnover of EUR 43 million, a new record and an increase of 46 percent from last year's 29.4 million, which was itself the company's best listing. Exports accounted for 75% of turnover and for the first time in Valutec's history Central Europe was the largest market, followed by Sweden and Finland. Successes on the world market have strengthened Valutec's position as world leader in lumber drying.
"This is long-term work that has yielded results. We are growing in Europe, Russia and North America. One reason is that the TC continuous kilns we developed are suitable for sawmills around the world, thanks to their high capacity and flexibility”, says Robert Larsson, CEO of Valutec.

TC continuous kilns were also the drying model that accounted for the largest part of Valutec's turnover in 2018 with deliveries to all major sawmilling countries.

"It's been a good year for our industry and many people feel positive for the future. Interest in wood is also growing in our customers' markets, not least from the climate perspective where wood can replace fossil-based products”, says Robert Larsson and continues:

The raw material is limited and the lumber needs both to be utilized and to have the right quality for its purpose. Sawmills know that lumber drying has a key role in that process.

The wood market is expected to slow down during 2019, but Valutec still looks forward to a good year, thanks in part to a strong existing order backlog. In addition, the company has recently launched the Valmatics 4.0 control system, which creates opportunities for quality and efficiency gains through automation of the drying process.

Sawmills want to streamline production while also ensuring the quality of every product. This calls for intelligent automation, and we've dedicated major resources to developing it. Valmatics 4.0 provides sawmills with the help and support necessary to optimize the drying process.

During 2019, Valutec will build the first TC continuous kilns in North America.

“They will be built in Maine, in northeastern USA, and will be important for the future, not least as reference objects. We believe that it will create great interest in the North American market”, says Robert Larsson.

Valutec consists of a Swedish parent company with subsidiaries in Finland, Russia and Canada.

More information
Robert Larsson, CEO
Valutec
Tel.: +46(0)70–336 40 58
robert.larsson@valutec.se

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The desire to increase the use of wood as a raw material is the ultimate reason for Valutec's existence. We have been combining Scandinavian expertise in the field of timber drying with a deep understanding of the challenges facing our customers for almost 100 years. Our goal is to expand opportunities not only for value-adding timber kilns, but also in intelligent control systems. The Valutec Group has offices in Sweden, Finland, Russia and Canada and has an annual turnover of around EUR 40 million. With more than 6,000 timber drying installations delivered, we are Europe's leading supplier. Find out more about our corporate philosophy "Good for wood" at www.valutec.ca.