Metsä Fibre’s main customers in the woodworking industry are to be found in the Middle East and North Africa, but the company also exports to Europe, including the UK. Typical end products in the segment include doors, door and window frames, various types of wooden furniture, skirting, trims and arcs.
Our sawn timber is popular not only with professionals but also with amateur home renovators.
Quality is our strongest export advantage
Tommi Saarnisto, Area Sales Director for the Americas, the Middle East and Africa, says that Metsä Fibre’s undisputed competitive advantages for customers in the woodworking industry are the consistent quality, dimensional accuracy and very high technical quality of its sawn timber. Quality is controlled by modern X-ray, grading and production technology throughout the entire production chain from forest to sawmill and end customer.
Smooth logistics and reliable deliveries are also important for customers as these bring predictability and security to their own operations.
“The woodworking industry in the Middle East and Africa is still very traditional and consists mainly of artisans. Most woodworking companies are small local workshops, often producing products on a bespoke, made-to-measure basis. With such traditional woodcrafting, raw materials of the highest quality are even more important. The products made have a life cycle of tens or even hundreds of years,” says Saarnisto.
Nordic wood also withstands hot conditions
Another advantage of Metsä Fibre’s pine and spruce sawn timber is that it is easy to work and surface treat. Slow-growing, tenacious, durable pine sawn timber of consistent quality is a safe choice for impressive high-quality carpentry products using the highest U/S and V quality grades as raw material.
The appearance of the piece determines the grade of the sawn timber. The most important quality criteria are the size, type, frequency and position of the knots in the piece. For quality grading, all sides of a piece of sawn timber are examined separately and the quality is determined by the face and both edges of the piece.
“Products sawn from high-quality pine bottom logs are also an excellent raw material for surface-treated end products exposed to sunlight and high temperatures in their applications,” says Saarnisto.
The visual appeal of pine improves over the years as it gradually darkens in colour. Carpentry products made from pine turn a beautiful yellow-red hue over time.