Nordic pine and spruce offer excellent opportunities for the production of sawn timber with a high and consistent quality. Thanks to the dense-grained wood, the structure of the sawn softwood is dense and the content of heartwood is high. Together with good hygroscopic and insulation properties as well as high-quality drying, these properties guarantee that the pieces of sawn timber retain their shape well.
Nordic sawn softwood offers extremely advantageous strength qualities in relation to weight, due to which it is well-suited for use in load-bearing structures. In terms of its appearance, northern wood is consistent, and it is easy to process and treat in the preferred manner.
Metsä Fibre has invested actively in modern production technology, efficient logistics solutions, and the know-how of its personnel. This guarantees products with a high technical quality in which the properties of the wood have been used in manner that is optimal from the customer’s perspective.
Good dimensional accuracy, smooth sawn surfaces, and a moisture content that corresponds with the purpose of use allow our sawn timber to be used in diverse manners in various applications.
Sawn timber grades
Sawn timber is classified into various grades based on its technical and visual properties. The technical properties include the dimensions, moisture content, and deformation of the sawn timber. The visual properties include the location, size, number, quality, and composition of knots and other properies like content of resin, resin pockets, scars etc.
The grading of northern sawn softwood employs a seven-step scale, which includes the main grades US I – US IV as well as V, VI and VII. The US grade (US standing for unsorted) is the highest grade, which contains the grades US I – US IV deriving from production. A majority of Metsä Fibre’s spruce sawn timber, which is of a consistent quality, falls under the grades I – V.
The properties of pine sawn timber vary a great deal more in terms of knots, for instance, than the properties of spruce sawn timber. The type of the products produced by different parts of the trunk covers a wide range, due to which the accurate grading of pine sawn timber carries great significance in terms of its consistent quality.
The basic grades of sawn softwood can be used as is in most applications for sawn timber. In addition, Metsä Fibre manufactures products customised according to the application.
We monitor the quality level and technical properties of our products at different stages of the process actively and systematically, in accordance with quality systems. This allows us to ensure the consistent quality of the products regardless of delivery batches.
High-quality product documentation
Every batch of sawn timber at Metsä Fibre’s sawmills is equipped with the necessary product information before it is delivered to the customers. During the packaging phase, the sawn timber packages are marked with labels attached on the package’s side and end, ensuring the product’s traceability. In addition, the sawn timber is equipped with a unique shipping code stamped at one end of a piece of sawn timber.
Automated, digital delivery tracking allows customers to track the delivery phases of the sawn timber batch.