The Södra Timber Traryd sawmill is being converted from pine sawing to sawing all varieties of hardwood. At the same time the Södra Interiör business area will take over the sawmill from Södra Timber on 1 April. Until then, pine will be phased out, and at the same time a log store comprising mainly oak and birch will be built up.

"We are pleased to see that our strategy, which involves offering products made using all the hardwood varieties growing in Götaland, is starting to gain ground among consumers. We have a strong need for oak at Södra Interiör thanks to an increase in customer demand. Moreover, we are seeing an interesting and growing market for birch products both in Sweden and on the continent," said Håkan Svensson, CEO of Södra Interiör.

The target is to saw 35,000 m3 (solid volume under bark) this year. This volume is expected to grow over the next few years. The sawmill will also start sawing aspen, ash, alder and beech later this year.

"Demand for aspen and alder is already so great that we could basically sell as much of it as we can get the raw material for," continued Svensson.

"We have also started to see greater sales of ash and beech via our sales of bonded panels, for example."

The sawmill in Traryd will supplement Södra Interiör's hardwood sawmill in Djursdala, outside Vimmerby, where operations are not affected by the takeover. The objective is for the Traryd sawmill to buy in its raw materials from the west and south of Götaland and for Djursdala to get its raw materials from the east of Götaland.