timbernews A magazine for SCA’s solid wood products customers | www.scatimber.com 1 2016 Competence team – with a focus on the customer’s needs World-class customer service The future is bright for Mill Sales in the UK Participants in the competence team from Nordlam Rubner: Tobias Lebbäus, Nicole Wendt, Fabian Liste och Martin Krispler. Customer needs top of the agenda 3 Competence team – focusing on customers’ needs 5 Investing in world-class customer service 6 Bright future for Mill Sales operation 8 New thesis focuses on the forest-saw-customer value chain 9 SCA invests on the Atlantic coast 10 Movers and shakers 10 New website in France 11 Rise in construction brings hope of an upturn for solid-wood products 11 The scent of the forest 12 TimberNews SCA Forest Products AB SE-851 88 Sundsvall, tel +46 60 19 30 00 www.scatimber.com Timber News is published four times a year Editor-in-chief Björn Lyngfelt Production KarMin kommunikation Repro & printing Åtta.45 Tryckeri AB, Sundsvall Feel free to quote us, but please name us as your source. so that we truly deliver the best service in the customer’s eyes. ‘Putting the customer first’, ‘customer focus’, ‘customer-oriented’ – there are all sorts of pithy expressions making clear the importance of prioritising customer needs and benefits. But for the words to mean anything, a supplier has to gain a deep understanding of these customer needs. And then the supplier also has to incorporate these needs as targets and guiding parameters in their own business. forms of collaboration with customers, it all begins with an understanding of the customer’s needs. And only the customer has that information. We need to listen to our customers. Within our own organisation, it is primarily the salespeople that have contact with the customers. They have to feed their experiences into the rest of SCA Timber’s organisation and they need to involve more people in the contact with the customer – people who are able to work on planning, production or logistics. It is only once the customer’s needs are known and prioritised throughout our own organisation and production chain that we can seriously begin to talk about being customer-oriented. It is only then that we can create value together. It is easy for the customer to become the content Subscribe to Timber News, please contact ingrid.lofqvist@sca.com We are here for our customers, or rather, we are nothing without our customers. responsibility of the salesperson, while the rest of the organisation concentrates on their own particular part of the value chain: raw material checks, production efficiency, logistics. The effect can be that what the customer is offered is merely the result of our own, internal optimisation process. And there is no guarantee that this is what the customer actually wants. But whatever the approach and the Ante Andersson, Marketing Director We have sought out concrete ways to incorporate a customer focus into our everyday reality. The first step is an in-depth dialogue. Together with priority customers, we have created competence teams that, on our side, have mastery over every step of the value chain up to the customer and on the customer side are able to explain how this value can be improved. In these teams, we work on every step of the chain to increase the value of what SCA Timber does and so improve the customer’s profitability. If we can help to improve the customer’s profitability, in the long term this should also lead to improvements in our own. But even where we don’t have the indepth collaboration of the competence team, we still seek to add value for the customer. We develop our customer offer Photo: Per-Anders Sjöquist Photo: Mats Wigardt Creating value together SCA TIMBER is one of Europe’s leading manufacturers of wood-based products, with an annual production of 2.1 million cubic metres. The product range is supplemented with service and distribution solutions for customers in the wood industry and builders’ merchant sector. SCA Timber is part of SCA’s Forest Products business unit, which produces publication papers for newspapers, magazines and catalogues, as well as paper for packaging, solid wood products, pulp and renewable energy. SCA Forest Products also manages SCA’s extensive forest holding and supplies SCA’s Swedish industries with wood raw materials, in addition to offering cost-efficient transport solutions to SCA’s units. timbernews | 2 Martin Krispler and Tobias Lebbäus at the German company Nordlam Rubner, believe that the competence team is vital for both parties’ success. Photo: Mats Wigardt Customer needs top of the agenda Nordlam Rubner is the biggest glulam manufacturer in Europe. The two modern production lines next to the River Elbe in eastern Germany have a total capacity of over 250,000 cubic metres, supplying across Europe. The raw material is exclusively slowgrown spruce, which is delivered by rail and road. Six thousand cubic metres of sawn spruce wood products are turned out every week, ready for checking, drying, sorting and scanning, before being cut, fingerjointed and glued in standard dimensions. The cosmetic look is important. Nordlam Rubner’s customers demand the highest standards of the finished product. Black knots are removed and the holes plugged. Planes and sanders are handled manually for the final polishing. Nordlam Rubner used to work with around 40 different suppliers of raw material. Now four large-scale producers of 3 | timbernews sawn wood products, including SCA Timber, meet over 80 percent of the company’s needs. Martin Krispler, Purchasing Manager at Nordlam Rubner, was thus pleased to see that SCA had recently started dealing with its own sales, rather than using agents who sold wood from many different clients. “We need raw material of the highest quality and we prefer direct contact with the companies we work with,” says Martin Krispler. As Krispler explains, success in reducing stocks, for example, depends on punctual deliveries, updated information and well developed channels of contact. And this in turn relies on a partnership without any filters. “We know what we need, when we need it, and we have to be clear and open about this with whoever we’re working with,” clarifies Krispler. Another step towards a more in-depth dialogue between supplier and manufacturer was taken recently, when SCA Timber invited selected customers to create joint competence teams. “Nordlam Rubner is a large and modern customer with a strong interest in working with us to review profitability along the whole value chain,” explains SCA Timber’s Marketing Director, Ante Andersson. Photo: Per-Anders Sjöquist When SCA Timber suggested taking their partnership to the next level with a joint competence team for in-depth dialogue, Martin Krispler, Purchasing Manager at Nordlam Rubner in Magdeburg, Germany, didn’t hesitate for a second. “It’s easier to do well when both sides are pulling in the same direction,” he explains. Ville Liimola is captain of the competence team that was put together by SCA Timber and Nordlam Rubner. It’s easier to do well when both sides are pulling in the same direction.” Martin Krispler, Purchasing Manager, Nordlam Rubner Ville Liimola, who is responsible for SCA Timber’s sales to Germany and captain of the team that was put together, draws a comparison with the treatment that an airline loyalty card confers on the holder: If there is a delay, the priority customer gets sorted out first. “Our focus is on giving the customer what they want,” he says. “And on finding joint ways to increase the value of the deal. Ideally, we want to make life easier for both parties.” The competence team comprises ten key members with expertise in selected areas, six from SCA and four from Nordlam. The plan is for them to meet on a regular basis, either on the phone or face to face, twice a year. The first meeting was held a little over six months ago, and it has all continued from there. “Each party invests money and personnel in optimising the process from raw Nordlam Rubner’s large glulam factory is located in Rothensee, outside Magdeburg in eastern Germany. material to finished product,” reports Ville Liimola. “This shows both drive and commitment.” Openness and an ambition to grow together are what lie at the heart of the project. Logistics, quality, planning and customer service are areas where there is good potential for change, improvements and savings. With a target of selling 40,000 cubic metres of sawn wood products to Nordlam in 2016, a saving of one euro per cubic metre soon adds up. And Ville Liimola feels Photo: Mats Wigardt it is not inconceivable that the potential savings over the long term may be many times greater – something that benefits both parties. “Getting to know each other makes for smoother communication, so that a solution can quickly be found if a problem arises,” he explains. Tobias Lebbäus, assistant to Martin Krispler and a member of the competence team, agrees. “We previously only communicated via email and phone,” he says. “Now we sit down and tease out the problems Nordlam Rubner, the largest manufacturer of glulam in Europe, with a production capacity of well over 250,000 cubic metres. Photo: Mats Wigardt timbernews | 4 together, instead. We get to know each other, try to find a shared language, give quick feedback and know where to turn, at the right level and without any detours.” One example is that fresh wood products from Tunadal were long transported in covered rail wagons. But in the summer it gets far too hot in the wagons, which damages the wood. This issue was raised by the competence team, and now the wood is transported in open wagons instead. Another example is that there were no detailed plans stating who at the sawmill should be contacted if Nordlam’s production planning needed to be revised for some reason. Now there are clear contact channels for each issue, with horizontal communication instead of the vertical variant. “We draw up a joint agenda for each meeting and examine one issue at a time, finding a solution step by step,” sums up Ville Liimola. Martin Krispler believes that an open and constructive dialogue, free from any smokescreens, is vital for both parties’ success. The quality of products and deliveries is a priority issue in his view. And the results, he thinks, have not been slow in coming. “It’s actually quite simple,” he says. “If we don’t sell any glulam beams, SCA isn’t selling any raw material either.” Martin Krispler sees the collaborative model now being applied by SCA and Nordlam as entirely unique. Of course discussions are also conducted with other suppliers, but not nearly in as much detail and in such structured forms as the competence team. “If we can manage to bridge the differences in culture and history, it could take us a long way,” believes Martin Krispler. “In five years we might not need the team, because we know each other so well that communication works well without it – to our mutual benefit.” Mats Wigardt FACTS The family-owned Rubner Group has almost 90 years’ experience in wood, with operations in Italy, Austria, Switzerland, Germany, Slovenia, France and Poland, plus a presence in a further 15 or so countries. The Group has 1,500 employees in total, across five strategic areas: the wood industry, wood structures, construction projects, homes and doors, which in turn are distributed between 31 companies. 5 | timbernews Lars-Ivar Eriksson, Sales Manager Scandinavia, Mill Sales. Photo: Per Anders Sjöquist Competence team – focusing on customers’ needs Over the years in which Lars-Ivar Eriksson has been selling timber to SCA Timber’s customers in Scandinavia, he has seen a number of important changes resulting in a greater focus on customers’ needs. The competence team is one more step in this same direction. Lars-Ivar Eriksson’s route into SCA Timber was via various posts at the sawmill in Munksund and on the Scandinavian sales team, before finally reaching the job he has today, as Sales Manager for Mill Sales Scandinavia. During this time, much has remained the same. The basis of the business, then as now, is dried pine, geared towards major industrial customers who produce flooring, furniture and windows. But even more is new. Like the way the proportion of spruce has become considerably larger and in some places dominant over pine, while the furniture segment has radically shrunk. New technology, heartwood sorting and a greater focus on sorting by length are other innovations. “Another major and key difference is that there’s a greater commitment at each sawmill now, as a result of customers making more specific requirements,” says Lars-Ivar Eriksson. “The right amount of the right product at the right time is no longer simply a wish, it’s a deal-breaker.” The dialogue between customer and supplier has deepened. There is more understanding. Both sides are clearer and are prepared to put time and resources into attaining a better result. Priority customers are nothing new for SCA Timber, but Lars-Ivar Eriksson thinks that over the years the relationship has matured. “It’s no longer just down to price,” he explains. “There are plenty of other things that affect profitability.” To identify what these might be and the way in which they affect profitability, special competence teams are now being set up with representatives of customers and suppliers. In Scandinavia alone, this initially involves about ten companies. “This isn’t something that’s just happened out of the blue,” says LarsIvar Eriksson. “It’s part of carrying on along an established path towards more of a mutual appreciation of the importance of profitability for both sides.” And he adds reassuringly that there has been a lot of interest. “Where we’ve got it up and running so far, the reception has been hugely positive,” he says. “Plenty of people are keen to get involved in working to find solutions that benefit the whole value chain.” Mats Wigardt Investing in world-class customer service Photo: Michael Engman Caroline Nordlander has been working for SCA for many years and has experience from the whole forest process industry. Her most recent post was at Tunadal sawmill where she worked as a team leader in goods out. She is now starting an exciting journey where the focus is on business care. “I will be responsible for coordinating and driving business care issues. The role includes making sure we have consistent procedures and working methods throughout the process and that we have the same high quality of service no matter where or when a customer contacts us,” Caroline explains. The focus on business care builds on a study carried out in 2015, headed by Lars Norberg, Logistics Manager at SCA Timber. The study clearly shows that there is a great need to coordinate work on business care and that it is important to constantly measure and monitor the quality of customer service and customer relations. “Customers want a close dialogue with us and we need to adapt to their needs better. Our customers are looking for good communication and want a relation- Photo: Per-Anders Sjöquist In 2016 SCA Timber is focusing on business care. The aim is to improve customer relations and customer service by making the sales process, administration and logistics more efficient. As part of the initiative, Caroline Nordlander was employed on 1 February as Business Care Controller. Caroline Nordlander is coordinating and running the customer service development work. ship based on our being able to provide tailored solutions,” Caroline continues. To ensure a good customer experience overall, the business care concept needs to be developed and become more effective on several levels. “When it comes down to it, it’s about offering a service, and services, that meet the customer’s needs. Sales, planning, customer service and logistics – it all has to tie in together and we need high quality at every link in the chain,” says Caroline. In 2016 Caroline will be surveying what working methods and procedures look like at the different saw- timbernews | 6 The focus that SCA is now placing on customer relations means we can plan our business even better and further optimise the whole flow.” Ragnar Berg, ceo of Norsk Limtre mills. Depending on what the survey shows, some changes may need to be made. “We already have a great deal of knowledge in house. It’s important to draw on the best practice we already have and pass it on to all our employees. If we’re going to provide world-class customer service, we need to be one step ahead. Success depends on all employees having the knowledge they need and being given the right information. This is especially important at certain critical times, like when we have lots of temporary staff,” Caroline points out. The focus on business care will produce tangible results for customers. “In practice we will be doing the same things but in a new and more consistent way. This is positive for our staff and for our customers too. We hope our customers will experience this as an extremely positive move. Improvements at every stage of the process reduce the risk of errors and will enable us to provide an even more professional service. This will be clearly seen in even greater efficiency,” says Caroline. products and fairly short planning periods, it needs its suppliers to be extremely flexible. Norsk Limtre needs tailored deliveries, at the right time and with efficient stock management. “For us, having good communication with our supplier has been vital. We already have a good relationship and good deliveries in our relationship with SCA. The focus that SCA is now placing on customer relations means we can plan our business even better and further optimise the whole flow. This will make us even more efficient day to day and means we are able to continue to develop our products,” concludes Ragnar Berg, CEO of Norsk Limtre. Patricia Knutsson One customer that SCA has been working with for many years is Norsk Limtre AS. The company is based in Mosvik, a small community about 100 km north-east of Trondheim in Norway. Norsk Limtre is one of Norway’s largest glulam manufacturers. The company was founded in 1992 and has had its ups and downs over the years. In the early 21st century the glulam industry collapsed and many manufacturers went out of business, but Norsk Limtre managed to survive. “It was partly down to finding new products, but also because we reviewed our efficiency and profitability,” says Norsk Limtre’s CEO Ragnar Berg. He thinks that one important element in this work is the ability to be flexible, cost-effective and change with the times. “We worked on product development and today we’re operating in a global market. To be able to reinvent yourself as we’ve had to, you need a good relationship with your supplier and you need them to listen and understand your needs. SCA has played an important role here,” Ragnar Berg continues. SCA and Norsk Limtre have developed a unique busi- ness relationship based on the needs that Norsk Limtre has. “The sorting and quality of the products that SCA delivers has met our needs well and we’ve developed our partnership over the years. SCA listened to us and had an excellent ability to optimise lengths that enabled us to get maximum usage out of them,” says Ragnar. Because the company works with non-standardised 7 | timbernews “The sorting and quality of the products that SCA delivers has met our needs well and we’ve developed our partnership over the years,” says Ragnar Berg, CEO of Norsk Limtre. Bright future for Mill Sales operation SCA Timber Mill Sales UK is looking to the future with the help of a new leader. 2016 sees a fresh start with new customer partnerships, product portfolio expansion and improved customer service levels. The journey of growth is just beginning for the Mill Sales Team. For the past 10 years, SCA Timber has been supplying high quality timber to the UK market via SCA’s King George Dock terminal at the port in Hull, Yorkshire. Customers are serviced with direct sales from SCA’s sawmills in Sweden together with the option of accessing timber from the terminal. In order to support demand, SCA send two vessels of pine and spruce material each month to ensure a consistent flow of goods into the UK market. The summer of 2015 saw SCA increase their reach to a nationwide coverage. A liner service is now delivering goods into the Port of Sheerness, Kent, which is better for customers based in the South of England with better delivery times and cost now available. At the beginning of this year, Stephen King took up the position of Sales Director and has hit the ground running. Stephen is well known in the UK timber industry and has worked for SCA, mainly at SCA’s Timber Supply business stream, for over 15 years. With key contacts in the market, Stephen is sure to lead the Mill Sales organisation into the future. He has The customer support staff, Diane Bailey and Sarah Mumby, in the office at Melton. many plans for growth and a ready enthusiasm to improve this key area of the UK market. Supporting Stephen’s drive is an experienced team of four; two sales staff, Caroline Evans and Neil Morris, and two customer support staff, Diane Bailey and Sarah Mumby. “I have high ambitions to develop the business in the UK,” comments Stephen. “Firstly we aim to better our customer service levels. We are currently building much closer partnerships with our Swedish sawmills and with our customers to improve response times and exceed expectations. SCA Timber has recently employed a new Business Care Controller whose single aim is to improve the service levels by enhanced processes and procedures. We are also aiming to bring in a SAP related customer relationship management (CRM) tool during this year which will enhance and streamline our efficiencies.” Looking to the future, the Mill Sales team are keen to grow existing key relationships and gain new customers in conjunction with the demands of the business. Stephen King, Sales Director, with high ambitions to develop SCA Timber Mill Sales UK. Now supported by a wider delivery reach, there is a new market base to target. Stephen is in the process of conducting a full review of the current portfolio. “In order to provide our customers with an improved offer we must first assess and look to expand our product range. It is vital that we are offering the right products for the demands of the current market,” he says. With such drive for continuous improvement, the foundations for the imminent growth of the UK Mill Sales operation are being laid. The future of SCA Timber in the UK is certainly looking bright. Amy Sellers SCA Timber supplies high quality timber to the UK market via SCA’s King George Dock terminal at the port in Hull. timbernews | 8 New thesis focuses on the forest-saw-customer value chain Magnus Larsson has spent many years trying to highlight the importance of greater collaboration between forestry and industry. But the time has not been right. As a doctoral student in the industry, he is now finally putting figures to the potential for development in the value chain. Magnus sets the tone for his thesis with the heading ‘Value creation and efficiency in wood mechanical value chains – from forest to market’. It is about explaining what could be achieved through better collaboration. Magnus Larsson is a certified forester who has worked on forest planning, forest maintenance and purchasing issues over a 25-year career. The link between forestry and industry has been a common thread running through his professional life. So when the opportunity arose, as a doctoral student, to run with this question, Magnus Larsson was quick to seize it. And after several years of work he is now ready to present the results in his thesis. “It’s actually quite simple,” he says. “The main area that can be improved is the information about the needs of the end customer. Objectives, figures, processes and support systems are vertical rather than horizontal.” He gives examples of good value chains with a clear customer focus and a capacity to quickly adapt to new customer demands, such as IKEA and Toyota. He suggests that the forest industry has a lot to learn in this respect. As the sawmill industry moves from producing a standard range to delivering customer-specific products, the link between the forest and the rest of the value chain offers the greatest potential for improvement. There are many reasons for this – complex logistics with incessant disruptions to raw material deliveries, targets and bonus systems that fail to take account of the bigger pic- 9 | timbernews Doctoral student Magnus Larsson knows what can be gained from better collaboration along the whole value chain, from forest to customer. Photo: Per Anders Sjöquist ture and failure to communicate are just some of them. “We simply can’t be confident enough that the industry will receive the raw material it has ordered,” he relates. “But it’s also a question of knowing what can reasonably be ordered, considering the conditions that forestry operates under.” In his study, Magnus Larsson points out that customer benefit must be clarified all the way back from the customer, via the sawmill, to the raw material supplier, and they in turn need to be able to offer reliable forecasts and deliveries back up the chain. He also stresses the importance of having a ‘guide’ for managing disruptions and deviations. “In traditional, capital-heavy industry, an attitude has taken root that it is better to push down costs than be flexible and consider the raw material’s potential and the customer’s needs,” says Magnus. In his thesis he presents a model for mapping out the supply chain. He wants to use this to understand and identify bottlenecks, in order to gradually improve the customer focus while maintaining efficiency. He points out that concern over customers not being able to receive what they ordered leads to solid- wood product manufacturers building up large stocks of finished goods. Of the total 24-week lead time from harvesting in the forest to delivery to a customer in the UK, half is waiting time in a warehouse near the customer. “This is a classic example of what an unwanted log delivery to the sawmill can lead to,” explains Magnus Larsson. “And it represents a missed opportunity to improve efficiency and reduce costs in the chain from forest to customer.” With a model for more specifically highlighting the importance of valueadding measures in the form of good forecasts and reliable deliveries of raw material, knowledge about the appearance and internal properties of the log, and thus new customer offerings, the tools exist to achieve a better collaboration between forest and sawmill. “This is a vital issue for the industry, and one in which SCA, with its major forest holdings and its close collaboration with large-scale, development-driven solid-wood customers, should have excellent potential to stay a long way ahead of the pack,” concludes Magnus Larsson. Mats Wigardt SCA invests on the Atlantic coast On 23 February a contract was signed to invest in a new site in Rochefort. This means that the working operations that SCA Timber France has in Rochefort will be combined on one site by 2018. The offices and the two operations (import and industry) will be relocated at the end of the process. The new site is located just near the current site. The geographic situation by the harbour in Rochefort gives SCA Timber France the best location for import and export operations. The relocation to the new site will be performed in two phases. In the first phase, SCA Timber France will move all the import operation. In phase two, in 2018, the industrial part will be relocated. This matter will continue to be investigated in autumn 2016. “The investment will strengthen the position in France for SCA Timber as a whole and now we can make our business development stronger in the French market. It will provide positive development for our operation in France and secure growth for the future,” says Benjamin Bodet, Managing Director of SCA Timber France. This is an important investment which gives us new prospects. Once the process has been finalised, we should be able to increase the integration of the operations, improve synergies and invest in modern new equipment to be able to offer the customers the highest level of service. “We should be able to modernise production within a period of three years. This is something we have really longed for. But to make the modernisation happen, we need a decision on further investments. By the end of the year we are counting on starting a process to find the best solutions for the future, so we can meet and serve our customers in a more efficient way,” says Benjamin. Our logistic are going to be more efficient and simultaneously we will decrease our costs. With the new installation we will also continue to decrease the carbon footprint from our operations. “When we modernise our equipment, we will be able to increase productivity. Production will be safer and more efficient, with less of an impact on the environment. This is something our customers expect of us,” explains Benjamin Bodet. The new site should meet the certification criteria of ISO 14001 and ISO 9001. The investment is also a new start for SCA Timber France and will be a good platform for the future. “The project should give us the opportunity to meet the requests from our customers in a better way and will be a good starting position for developing new products. An important part of this is to focus on employee safety and improving the work environment. We are therefore planning to focus in particular on the workplace and the corporate areas,” continues Benjamin. Within the relocation project, we will also go through all the production equipment. We are aiming for a reorganisation of our teams and workforce at administrative and operational level. “The work on the new site will give us the opportunity to attract the best talent to our company and it will push us a step ahead. We should also be able to meet the needs of our existing and new customers in a better way,” says Benjamin Bodet. Movers and shakers Benjamin Bodet took on the role of Managing Director of SCA Timber France on 25 January 2016. Benjamin was previously acting Managing Director. Brent Davies has Anders Petersson, been appointed Business Development Manager, SCA Merchant Services in UK. Business Performance Manager at SCA Timber, has been adding to the strength at SCA Timber China & S. E. Asia since 1 January 2016. Jeremy Roussarie Andrew Marston has been appointed Business Development Manager, SCA Merchant Services in UK. took the position of Sales and Marketing Director since 14th March 2016. At the same time, Philippe Bence left his post as Marketing Director. Stephen King has been appointed Sales Director, SCA Timber Mill Sales UK. He took up his new position on 1 January 2016. His previous position was Commercial Director, SCA Timber Supply UK. Caroline Nordlander took on a new role as Business Care Controller at SCA Timber on 1 February 2016. Caroline has moved from her post as team leader for goods out at Tunadal sawmill. Niclas Solberger, Business Performance Manager at SCA Timber, will be reinforcing the business team at Tunadal sawmill during the year. Lars Trell, Business Performance Manager at SCA Timber, will mainly be working on the project ‘Sharp saw, sharp business’ at Tunadal sawmill. timbernews | 10 Rise in construction brings hope of an upturn for solid-wood products Global demand for solid-wood products increased in 2015. This was partly fuelled by the USA, mainly owing to increased construction activity. Europe saw slightly slower but stable growth. Sweden and the UK stood out with a higher increase in demand. In Japan too, demand increased after a few weak years. In China strong demand has tailed off into stagnation, mainly due to a drop in construction. The furniture industry is doing better and here Swedish suppliers are strong. In North Africa the solid-wood prod- ucts market has continued to give cause for concern. Demand is high, largely driven by high construction needs in the region. But financial problems, mainly in the major pine markets of Egypt and Algeria, have had a knock-on effect on sales. Low oil prices are acting as a brake on the region’s purchasing power. Although global demand is strong, oversupply has put pressure on prices in many markets. The fall of the rouble by 45 percent against the Swedish krona in the space of two years makes Russian suppliers much more competitive in most markets. Russian production has not increased very much, however, according to available statistics. A fall off in demand from China and a strong US dollar mean high supplies of Canadian solid-wood products in the United States. In Europe the increase in production has been moderate, apart from in southern Sweden. Given this situation the pine and spruce markets developed in different ways over the past year. The pine market was under pressure from oversupply, mainly from Russia, while the market balance for spruce looked better, mainly for spruce products for the construction industry. Currency trends are important. Russian and Canadian suppliers are benefiting from a weak rouble and a strong US dollar. The strong dollar benefits Swedish suppliers too, but a weaker pound reduces competitiveness in the important UK market. Anders Ek – new Chairman of CEI Bois Anders Ek, President of SCA Timber Supply, has been elected Chairman of CEI Bois for the 2016–2017 period. CEI Bois is the European Confederation of Woodworking Industries, representing and defending the interests of the woodworking and furniture industries towards the European Union. The organization includes more than 184,000 companies generating annual sales of EUR 130 billion and employing around 1.1 million workers in EU27. More information about CEI Bois http://www.cei-bois.org/en SCA Timber at India Wood Ante Andersson, Marketing Director, SCA Timber New website in France SCA Timber France is proud to present its new website. Any distributor or user can access all the important information about SCA Timber’s business in France at: www.scatimberfrance.com The site was developed in close cooperation with the communications department at the Sundsvall site. It is important to retain and uphold the spirit of SCA. General information, such as the catalogue, sales team contacts and facility details, is available online. More specific and technical information, such as product data sheets and environmental characteristics, can also be downloaded. In addition, the site is intended to be entertaining, with a range of media, such as videos, production photos or Timber News articles, available for browsing. Nowadays, the first port of call for any user or distributor looking for a product is the Internet, and more specifically Google. 11 | timbernews In February SCA Timber China & S.E. That is why we decided to develop our own website, to enhance promotion of SCA Timber France. Phase two will involve improving our keyword strategy so that we appear on the first page of results for online searches of our range of products. The Internet is changing the world. We need to develop tools to stay connected. Asia was one of the exhibitors at India Wood in Bangalore, India. India Wood is one of the world’s largest biennial woodworking events. “We saw a great interest for the Indian market from wood suppliers around the world. Producers from Canada, Germany, US etc were well represented at the fair. SCA was the only exhibitor from the Nordic countries which generated extra interest from the visitors. This was the first time SCA approached potential customers in India to try to understand how our products can fit their demands and we are happy with the response,” says Mathias Fridholm, Managing Director, SCA Timber China & S.E. Asia. In this apparatus Anders Fahlén can distil plants into essential oils for use in food and perfume. The scent of the forest Spruce needles could well be the next top-selling perfume. Anders Fahlén distils the top shoots from spruce trees and extracts oil, which is mainly used for various perfumes. The dream is a completely unique scent of northern Sweden. Beneath a tarpaulin in Rö, a small village outside Härnösand, is an impressive piece of distilling equipment, used to distil local plants to make essential oils for use in food, spa products and perfumes. It was designed by Anders Fahlén. With a PhD in agronomy, he has spent many years working as a consultant in South-East Asia. This was where he came in contact with traditional knowledge of plants and their uses. Back home in Sweden, he adapted his experiences to Swedish conditions. Using his apparatus, Anders produces essential oils from the plant kingdom of northern Sweden, with plants including angelica, mint, meadowsweet, lovage, bog myrtle and wild rosemary. New systems for the same technique use steam and a vacuum. “A vacuum gives you lower energy costs and higher quality,” he explains. His interest in what the plant kingdom has to offer has recently led Anders Fahlén to try extracting fragrance from spruce needles. “It’s one way of marginally getting more added value out of the forest,” he says, pick- Anders Fahlén extracts essential oils from plants including spruce shoots. ing out some test tubes filled with a yellowish liquid that gives off a penetrating aroma of the forest. The process is relatively simple. He packs the distilling equipment with 300 kilos of spruce top shoots and passes steam through the container while stirring. Eventually a mixture of oil and water, known as herbal distillate, starts to drip from a tap at the other end. After separating out the water, what you have left is an essential oil with a strong – but not at all unpleasant – smell of the Swedish forest. Each batch produces about a litre of finished oil. “It might not be very much but I’m more interested in quality than quantity,” says Anders. The spruce tree offers up a wealth of scents to compose into a perfume, with a choice of up to 200 unique chemical substances. Anders Fahlén dreams of working with his two daughters to produce a special Swedish spruce-based perfume. “Better the genuine scent of northern Sweden than a copy of Provence,” he concludes. Mats Wigardt. Photo: Frida Sjögren