SCA saws contorta pine

SCA began planting contorta pine during the 1970s and have today around 300,000 hectare of contorta pine in its forest holdings. Now, it is time to harverst some of the forests and a big amount shall of course become sawn timber products.

Panels, joists and decking

Since spring 2022, SCA has been sawing contorta and are working intensively to see what kind of sawn timber products contorta pine is best suited for.

It has been shown that there are many areas of use and the response from customers has been positive. The timber is used partly for products that are usually made from spruce, such as panels and joists, and partly for products that are usually made from Swedish pine, such as decking.

Light and beautiful

Wood from contorta pine is light and beautiful, with a high proportion of healthy knots. It also has less cracks  and is easy to work with, since it is not so resinous. Another advantage is that wood from contortapine weighs less, which makes transportation cheaper.

The ability of the contorta pine to grow quickly gives it exciting properties. The growth force means, among other things, that the distance between the knots is much longer than in the Swedish pine. Swedish pine that grows in northern Sweden often has about 10-15 centimeters between the knots, while the distance in the contorta pine is often more than double that, about 35 centimeters. 

SCA is sawing contorta timber that comes from both SCA's own forests and from private forest owners with forests in northern Sweden.