End uses for sawn goods

By far the largest part of Finnish sawn goods end up for structural end uses. Another important end use area is various joinery related products.

Building

By far the largest part of Finnish sawn goods end up for structural end uses. Another important end use area is various joinery related products.

Traditions and regulations vary from one country to another; hence the use of woodbased products varies greatly between countries and end-use areas. For instance, in Nordic countries the timber consumption m³ per capita is among the highest in the world, because of the wide use of timber frame in building and construction for framing, floors, roofs, interior and exterior claddings, door and windows, log constructions and several other end uses.

In recent years there has been a strong development for wood-based building systems both in Finland and abroad, which has led to new and improved uses of wood in buildings. In some areas, such as the United Kingdom and around the Mediterranean, the building and construction work has used primarily stone-based materials: bricks, blocks and concrete.

This reflects the fact that traditionally constructions are built using materials, which are more easily accessible – hence in those areas the timber products have not dominated. It is a challenge to break these traditions, but nothing is impossible: the environmental arguments are a big positive for the increase in the use of wood.

In USA, Canada and Japan wood construction has already long traditions in both houses and multi storey buildings.

Construction

There is still a need for new construction in Europe. However, the focus is shifting to renovation. With family size decreasing and construction needs mostly in residential centers, more apartment and terraced houses are being built instead of detached houses. This may not favor wood construction, but in the light of trends, wood will continue to play a strong role in the future.

Competing products

There is a clear trend that traditional sawn timber has lost out market share to further pro cessed goods, especially to Engineered Wood Products (EWP). These include I Beams for flooring and partly wall constructions, glued products like Glulam in structural solutions and panel products like OSB, plywood, chipboard in floors, walls and roofs.

Cross Laminated Timber (CLT) in increasingly used for structural uses and roofs, both in single homes and multi storey buildings.

Sawn timber is challenged also by various substitutes. In partition wall, metal studs, finger jointed products and LVL have captured market share.

In joinery products especially, Redwood is facing increasing competition from hardwoods, different types of glued and finger jointed components and MDF.

Interior

Various interior products have traditionally been favoured end uses for the slowly grown Nordic sawn goods. Interior decoration trends are, however, increasingly changing.

In the 1990s rustic style in interiors gave a good basis for the sale of sound knotted Redwood materials for a very wide range of products: kitchen furniture and cabinets, furniture, floors, panelling, doors, windows and staircases. At the Millennium the fashions changed towards painted, light coloured options – paving way for MDF and other substitutes.

Currently wood is making a comeback, but the Far Eastern produced hardwood products like floors and worktops have captured a lion’s share of the opportunities.

There are major differences between various market areas. For instance, in China the pale, top quality Whitewood is a major end use for Nordic timber. Also, Northern African countries use Nordic timber for furniture.

Packaging industry

Packaging industry is an important end-use are for Nordic sawn timber.

It is being used for:

• pallets
• cable drums and various
• demanding boxed applications.

Due to low price of the lower grades suitable for packaging industries, logistic costs are the key in the competitiveness.

Important markets for this segment are Germany, Holland and especially Saudi Arabia.

For instance, Italian fruit box markets are dominated by the Central European lower grades due to their shorter delivery distances.

Other end uses

Wood products have gained market new markets in exterior applications, such as garden products.

Decking has been a major use for timber for a long time now, but on top of that pergolas, fencing products, children’s play areas, exterior furniture and jetties are big end uses especially for sizes produced form small log dimensions.

Traditionally exterior products have been pressure treated for a longer life span, but there are now alternatives both in heat treated timber and composites.

Wood is also used for infrastructural solutions. Various fences and noise barriers and also bridges – even bigger road bridges – are increasing their market share in this market segment.