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Review of the forest industry and CTL method

Hannu Kivelä
Director, Strategy and Customer Cooperation
Ponsse Oyj

Changes in values favour the cut-to-length method

Changes in the values connected with the use of forests favours the use of cut-tolength machines in particular. More and more attention is being paid to sustainable forest use and environmental values. Several countries have imposed restrictions on the felling of natural forests in fear of the negative environmental effects caused by broad mechanical fellings. In this respect, the cut-to-length method is superior to the whole-tree method, as wide wheels and good load-carrying capacity keep soil damage, for instance, to a lesser degree than in the case of the large machines used in the whole-tree method. In addition, the cut-to-length method is the only way to ensure proper thinning, and as a result, tree growth can be utilised better and the quality of wood in final felling improved. K een competition in the forest industry and the persistently-difficult market situation are constantly increasing pressure towards effective harvesting and more careful use of wood. These trends, too, favour the cut-to-length method, which allows major cost savings and ensures maximum careful utilisation of valuable raw material, right from harvesting onwards.

Promising outlook throughout the world

On the above grounds, the market trend for cut-to-length forest machines is very positive from the manufacturer’s point of view and the markets are growing worldwide. The cut-to-length method is spreading fastest in Russia where felling has traditionally taken place using the whole-tree method. Fellings in Eastern Europe are approaching the volumes recorded in the 1990s and most of the growth is harvested using the cut-to-length method. The spreading of the cut-to-length method in the developing market is based on its effectiveness and accuracy, though this requires support from the rapidly-developing maintenance and training services network. The growing number of fellings in central and northern Europe relies almost solely on Scandinavian technology, and there is a rising interest in the cut-to-length method in North America, too. More and more forest companies aim to adopt the cut-to-length method in 2010. In Asia, Latin America, Oceania and Africa, most of the rapidly expanding harvesting of planted forests takes place using cut-to-length forest machines.