“With the update, we wanted to clarify the classification and describe more accurately what kinds of end uses wood is really used for. Now it is easier for our customers and consumers to understand our classification,” says Ari Harmaala, Metsä Fibre’s SVP for Sales and Customership.
Harmaala emphasises that sawn timber is not just unplaned planks waiting to be processed by industry but in fact much more than that.
“Wood is used to manufacture products that are used every day and are present in people’s everyday lives very concretely. These products have an impact on people’s lives, so the material really matters. Wood products are also an ecological choice, because they bind carbon throughout their life-cycle.”
The most suitable raw material batches are selected for each end use.
“Quality is important, but it is even more important to find the correct quality level for the specific end use in question. For example, quality criteria are completely different if we compare housing products, where wood is often visible, with many packaging products,” says Ville Valio, Metsä Fibre’s Area Sales Director for Europe.
The sawmill investment in Rauma is good news especially for those customers who manufacture housing products. One of the investment targets is to produce more high-quality sawn timber.
“Above all, we try to achieve total growth with the investment, but at the same time, we are increasing the share of products that are directed to demanding end uses,” says Harmaala.
Metsä Fibre’s customers will start to see the new classification system in use in spring 2021.