Iggesund Timber has held the official opening of a new grading department at its sawmill in its namesake hometown of Iggesund, Sweden.
The new facility includes packing as well as grading departments, and, together with new storage facilities for semi-finished and finished products, the whole development represents an investment of SEK 75 million.
With the new grading department in place, Iggesund Timber – the sawn timber arm of the Holmen group – has now concentrated all its production in the town of Iggesund.
The company has been undergoing a major restructure since 2001. This has included the shutdown of unprofitable operations, including the sawmill in Domsjö.
The Iggesund plant has also been “rationalised” and operations at Håstaholmen were also axed.
The company says that the results are “considerable improvements in productivity and significantly higher profitability”.
Iggesund Timber’s products are mainly used by the joinery industry in England and Scandinavia. It is also one of Scandinavia’s largest suppliers of raw materials for solid redwood flooring. Other important customers include the turning and the furniture industries.
The new grading department was inaugurated by Christer Eirefelt, the County Governor of the County of Gävleborg.