“I’ve never seen anything like this”

“The wood products market is in an extreme state at the moment. I expected slightly larger volumes, but I don’t know if that’s realistic. I’ve been in the industry for 31 years and I’ve never seen anything like this. The usual discussion is about euros – but that is not an issue for now, as supply is the most important thing right now. We also have problems with our own production. We could sell twice as much, but we can’t ramp up production that much. It’s hard for us to know what conditions the sawmills are dealing with at the moment. Our sense is that volumes are falling and prices are rising. The frustrating thing for us is that even when we want to pay these high prices, the volumes just aren’t there. These are remarkable times. You’ve switched from NWP to Norra Timber and my point of contact has changed, so this is new for me on every front. But I’m happy with your organisation and with Daniel,” says Raymond Pot, Sales and Purchase Manager at Foreco.

“And we’re pleased with Foreco. They’re definitely a company to grow with in the future, something that we prioritise from Norra Timber’s perspective as we face these challenges. We have to remember both the good times and the bad times for the sawmills, during which we need our priority customers, and we need customers who are good at adding value to the raw material. Foreco is definitely one of these, custom-making exclusive products that truly increase the value of the timber. Of course it’s always possible to look back and think about whether we could have delivered more wood, but we’ve simply not had enough of certain things. Everything depends on the distribution between customers and how good we can make our forecasts. This is a whole supply chain, so the forecasts we receive from the forest organisation govern how much we can produce and what happens with sales. In the current situation, it’s about finding reasonable volumes for our priority customers so they can survive, but they have to share what we have,” explains salesman Daniel Färdeman.

“Our weekly conversations are also important,” he adds. “In many respects we’re partners, we depend on each other and need to share information. The key is to determine what the next level is going to be, so Raymond is able to raise the price for his customers, because that’s also very important. Right now, it’s naturally difficult to say where the next price level is going to end up, but communication is vital.”

“I hope our collaboration can continue and that we’ll soon have slightly larger volumes and a more stable market. But we are very pleased with the quality, and the structure suits our family business. It’s important to us to be dealing with NWP and now Norra Timber. If things continue as they are, we’ll be working together for many years. We’re both young and capable of lasting a long time,” states Raymond Pot.