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The European forest as source of industrial raw materials
Land Use Policy 17 (2000) 209}219
The European forest as source of industrial raw materials T.J. Peck*, A. Ottitsch European Forest Institute, 34 Torikatu, FIN-80100 Joensuu, Finland Received 9 November 1999; accepted 23 March 2000
Abstract The forest industries are among the more important industrial sectors in Europe. They are the customers for the bulk of the wood produced in Europe's forests. The sale of wood to them is the source of the major part of the revenue that forest owners derive from their forests. Even though the non-wood goods and services of the forest are of increasing importance, it is inevitable that wood production will continue to "gure prominently in most management plans. Consequently, the maintenance of a healthy forest industry is a key element in achieving the economic, social and environmental sustainability of Europe's forests. This paper is in two parts. The "rst describes in broad terms the role of the forest as source of industrial raw material, the use of the raw material by the wood-processing industries and their place in national economies. This will serve to highlight the inter-dependency between the forest resource and the wood-processing industries. The second part will consider the policy implications of this inter-dependency, particularly from the point of view of the relative importance of the wood-producing function of the forest and in the context of the economic, social and environmental sustainability of forest management under European conditions. The hypothesis will be explored that in a region such as Europe, with a high density and economically advanced population, the maintenance of a healthy forest}industries sector is a key element in achieving sustainability of Europe's forests. 2000 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved. Keywords: Europe; Forest resources; Industrial wood raw materials; Wood-processing industries; Policy
Introduction It is said that there are more than 5000 articles in everyday use that are derived from wood (Canadian Wood Council, 1999). A few are cut from the tree and used without further transformation, but the vast majority have been through one or more stages of processing before they reach the ultimate consumer or user. The wood-processing industries are therefore an essential link in the chain of supply from the source of wood raw material to every one who uses wood products. These industries also contribute materially to national and local, especially rural, economies and are important employers, both directly and through ancillary activities, such as transport and distribution. It goes without saying that their ability to perform these functions is wholly dependent on the forest as the principal source of their raw materials.
* Corresponding author. Tel.: #41-22-776-10-69; fax: #41-22-77610-69. E-mail address: [email protected] (T.J. Peck).
In the context of this paper, Europe includes, unless otherwise stated, all countries from Iceland in the north west to Turkey and Cyprus in the south east, and Finland and Estonia in the north east to Portugal and Spain in the south west. It does not include the Russian Federation and other Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS), mainly because the sheer size of the CIS forest resource would tend to distort analysis and the situation in those countries di!ers in several important respects from that in the rest of Europe.
The European forest as source of wood In the 1990s, the area of forest in Europe was about 176 million hectares (ha) with a further 40 million classi"ed as &other wooded land' (UN-ECE/FAO, 2000). Together, these areas account for 38% of the total land area and in most countries represent a signi"cant feature of the landscape. Forest classi"ed as available for wood supply, that is either being regularly harvested or if not, not subjected to legal or other restrictions on harvesting, amounted to 149 million ha or 85% of the total forest
0264-8377/00/$ - see front matter 2000 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved. PII: S 0 2 6 4 - 8 3 7 7 ( 0 0 ) 0 0 0 1 3 - 2
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T.J. Peck, A. Ottitsch / Land Use Policy 17 (2000) 209}219
area. Some volumes of wood are taken from forest not available for wood supply and other wooded land, as well as from trees outside the forest, but the bulk * around 95% * is removed from forest available for wood supply (FAWS). The volume of growing stock on European FAWS is assessed as 21.2 billion m overbark (o.b.), an average of 145 m o.b. per ha, and nearly two-thirds of it consists of coniferous species. Net annual increment (NAI) on FAWS is estimated at 640 million m o.b., an average of 4.3 m o.b. per ha. Total fellings during the 1990s were averaging about 440 million m o.b. a year, of which those on FAWS were 426 million m. NAI on FAWS was thus about 214 million m o.b. a year or 50% higher than fellings, which explains why the volume of Europe's growing stock has been increasing rather strongly. This trend has been evident over at least the past 50 years and has been one of the most notable features of European forestry. It could be said that the present level of fellings in the region is at the very least sustainable; indeed, a case could be made on environmental and social as well as economic grounds for bringing the level of Europe's fellings up closer to that of NAI. Higher NAI than fellings is common to the great majority of European countries and, although di$cult to quantify, the gap between the two is relatively more marked for broadleaved than for coniferous species. Total removals of roundwood from the European forest in 1996 amounted to 360 million m u.b. (underbark measure), removals being the volume of fellings less the volume of felling losses left in the forest (Table 1). The volume of removals #uctuates from year to year for both supply reasons, such as weather conditions or clearance of storm-damaged trees, and demand reasons. The medium- to long-term trend has, nevertheless, been gradually upward, mainly as a result of expanding demand from industry. The use of wood in the round, including fuelwood, pitprops, poles and posts, has remained rather #at. Wood for industry may be sub-divided into: (1) sawlogs and veneer logs, destined for the sawmilling industries and plywood and veneer sheet manufacture; and (2)
pulpwood, for use by the woodpulp, particle board and "breboard industries. There is some inter-changeability between these two categories, depending on market conditions, but generally speaking the larger diameter logs are used as sawlogs and veneer logs and the small-sized ones as pulpwood. In recent decades the pulpwood-using industries have expanded faster than the others, but this has not resulted in faster growth in demand for pulpwood for three reasons. Firstly, their use of recycled wood in the form of wood residues, chips and particles, mainly from the sawmilling industries, has increased at a faster rate than that of virgin "bre (roundwood pulpwood) from the forest. Secondly, growth in demand for woodpulp by the paper and paperboard industries has been constrained by the increasing recovery and re-utilisation of waste paper as raw material. Thirdly, industries in some European countries have been importing increasing quantities of roundwood, for reasons of cost, commercial strategy or quality, even if domestic sources were capable of raising supply. Table 2 shows removals of wood for industry in 1996 in 17 countries which together accounted for 92% of the European total of 283 million m. In most of these countries, wood for industry made up three quarters or more (over 90% in the Nordic countries, Germany, Czech Republic, Portugal and the United Kingdom). In a few (Turkey, Italy) where fuelwood is still harvested in large volumes, wood for industry made up little more than one-third of total removals. Coniferous species accounted for 78% of total removals of wood for industry and non-coniferous (broadleaved) for 22%. Countries where the latter species were relatively important (onethird or more of the total) included France, Spain, Portugal, Turkey, Romania, Latvia, Slovakia and notably Italy with 73%. Those with 90% or more of coniferous removals included Sweden, Czech Republic, Austria, Norway and the United Kingdom. The supply of wood raw material to Europe's woodprocessing industries in 1996 is shown in Table 3. Of the total of 352 million m, 296 million or 84% was supplied
Table 1 Trends in European roundwood removals, 1993}1999 (million m) Actual 1993 Total removals, of which: 329.9 Fuelwood, pitprops, poles, posts, pilings, etc. 76.8 Wood for industry, of which: 253.2 Sawlogs & veneer logs 147.9 Coniferous 120.4 Non-coniferous 27.6 Pulpwood 105.2 Coniferous 74.2 Non-coniferous 31.1
1994
1995
1996
Timber committee forecasts 1997 1998 1999
358.9 75.4 283.5 169.6 138.9 30.7 113.9 81.3 32.6
375.7 73.3 302.4 180.0 146.6 33.4 122.4 88.7 33.7
359.9 77.3 282.6 170.9 139.9 30.9 111.7 79.7 32.0
385.5 77.0 308.5 187.6 155.2 32.4 120.9 86.1 34.8
389.6 77.6 312.0 189.4 155.8 33.5 122.7 87.2 35.5
Note: Detail may not add to totals due to rounding. Source: UNECE/FAO, Timber Bulletin, Vol. LI (1998), Nos. 2 and 6.
394.2 78.1 316.1 191.7 158.0 33.7 124.3 88.4 35.9
T.J. Peck, A. Ottitsch / Land Use Policy 17 (2000) 209}219
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Table 2 Removals of roundwood for industry in European countries in 1996 Total removals
Europe Sweden Finland Germany France Poland Spain Czech Rep. Austria Portugal Norway UK Turkey Romania Latvia Slovakia Lithuania Italy 17 countries Others
359.9 56.3 46.3 37.0 40.4 20.3 15.6 12.6 15.0 9.0 8.4 7.1 19.4 12.3 8.1 5.5 5.5 9.1 327.9 32.0
Roundwood for industry, of which:
Coniferous
Volume (million m)
Percent of total removals (%)
Volume (million m)
Percent of Volume roundwood for (million m) industry (%)
Percent of roundwood for industry (%)
282.6 52.0 42.2 33.4 30.2 16.6 11.7 11.4 11.2 8.2 7.7 6.4 6.6 5.9 5.2 4.9 4.2 3.3 261.1 21.5
78.5 92.4 91.2 90.3 74.7 81.7 74.8 90.3 74.7 91.9 97.4 90.6 34.2 47.9 63.9 89.4 76.0 36.0 79.6 67.2
219.7 48.2 37.3 26.3 17.8 12.4 7.2 10.3 10.4 4.4 7.5 5.9 4.2 3.7 3.0 3.1 3.4 0.9 206.2 13.4
77.7 92.7 88.5 78.6 59.1 74.9 61.9 90.4 92.9 53.7 97.2 92.1 63.8 63.4 58.1 63.8 79.8 27.0 79.0 62.7
22.3 7.3 11.5 21.4 40.9 25.1 38.1 9.6 7.1 46.3 2.8 7.9 36.2 36.6 41.9 36.2 20.2 73.0 21.0 37.4
Non-coniferous
62.9 3.8 4.8 7.1 12.4 4.2 4.5 1.1 0.8 3.8 0.2 0.5 2.4 2.1 2.2 1.8 0.8 2.4 54.9 8.0
Note: Percentages calculated from "gures to nearest 1000 m. Source: UNECE/FAO, Timber Bulletin, Vol. L1, No.2 Total removals less pitprops, poles, pilings, posts, etc., and fuelwood. Table 3 Supply of wood raw material to Europe's wood-processing industries in 1996 Domestic sources
Roundwood, of which: Sawlogs & veneer logs Pulpwood Wood residues, chips, etc. Total, of which for: Sawnwood, plywood & veneer sheets Woodpulp, particle board and "breboard
Imports
Total
(million m)
(%)
(million m)
(%)
(million m)
(%)
257.3 159.8 97.6 48.1 305.5 159.8 145.7
73.1 45.4 27.7 13.7 86.8 45.4 41.4
38.7 17.6 21.1 7.8 46.5 17.6 28.9
11.0 5.0 6.0 2.2 13.2 5.0 8.2
296.0 177.4 118.6 56.0 352.0 177.4 174.6
84.1 50.4 33.7 15.9 100.0 50.5 49.6
Note: (1) Domestic sources: European countries' own sources (forests, sawmills, etc.). (2) Imports: from both intra-European trade and from other regions. (3) Volumes in million m EQ (equivalent volume of wood in the rough). (4) Percents are of total supply from all sources (352 million m EQ). Source: UN-ECE/FAO (1998).
in the form of roundwood and 56 million as industrial wood residues, chips and particles. Most of the roundwood, 257 million m or 73% of total wood raw material supply, was used in the same country where it was taken from the forest (the "gures were obtained by deducting exports from production or removals). 39 million m were imported either from other European countries or from other regions, notably the Russian Federation (coniferous logs and pulpwood) and the tropics (broadleaved logs). Almost exactly half of total supply was
destined for the sawmilling and the plywood and veneer industries in the form of sawlogs and veneer logs; the other half for the woodpulp, particle board and "breboard industries. The latter's total raw material intake of 175 million m consisted of 119 million of roundwood pulpwood (68%) and 56 million of residues, chips and particles (32%). The roundwood supply data in Table 3 are based on removals and trade statistics and their reliability as an indicator of their destination depends on whether the
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Table 4 Derived estimates of wood raw material input by European woodprocessing industries in 1996 Production
From sawlogs and veneer logs Sawn softwood Sawn hardwood Plywood Veneer sheets
Unit
(million)
m m m m
78.5 12.7 3.8 1.9
Sub-total From pulpwood, incl. residues & chips Particle board, m incl. OSB Fibreboard, incl. m MDF Mechanical m.t. woodpulp Semi-chemical m.t. woodpulp Chemical (paper) m.t. woodpulp Dissolving pulp m.t.
Conversion Raw material factor input (million m EQ)
1.64 1.82 2.3 1.8
128.7 23.1 8.8 3.3 163.9
31.7
1.43
45.4
6.3
1.83
11.6
11.8
2.5
29.5
1.4
3.0
4.2
21.9
4.8
104.9
0.4
5.46
2.0
Sub-total
197.5
Total
361.5
Note: (1) Conversion factors are European averages. Conversion calculations to m EQ made from data to nearest 1000 units. (2) OSB: Oriented strand board; MDF: Medium density "breboard. (3) Detail may not add to totals due to rounding. Source: UN-ECE/FAO (1998).
roundwood sold as sawlogs was actually used to make sawnwood, veneer logs for plywood and veneer sheets, and pulpwood for woodpulp, particle board and "breboard. A means of cross-checking is to take the production "gures for these products and apply conversion factors to estimate the amount of wood raw material required. This is done in Table 4. The result of these calculations gives a total wood raw material requirement by the European wood-processing industries in 1996 of 361 million m EQ (equivalent volume of wood in the rough). The di!erence between this "gure and that of total supply in Table 3 is less than 3%, which can be accepted as reasonable and can be attributed to a number of factors. One is the use of inappropriate conversion factors: those shown in Table 4 are estimated averages for all European countries and may not be satisfactory, given the wide variations from country to country and even industry to industry that are known to occur. Another is that in some countries non-wood raw material is of importance, for instance in Belgium and some other
countries the use of #ax shives for particle board. This was not taken into account in the calculations of wood raw material input in Table 4. It is noticeable that the "gure of input of sawlogs and veneer logs in Table 4 (164 million m) is 8% lower than the corresponding "gure of supply in Table 3 (177 million), while that of input of pulpwood, etc., of 197 million is 13% higher than the supply "gure of 175 million in Table 3. This seems to suggest that some roundwood classi"ed as sawlogs and veneer logs may in fact have been used as pulpwood; also possibly that some roundwood removed as fuelwood, pitprops, poles, posts, etc., may also have been used as pulpwood; or that some removals were not recorded at all. It may also be observed that there is an element of double-counting: part of the supplied volume of sawlogs and veneer logs reappears as industrial wood residues and chips, but since this is also allowed for in the conversion factors for calculating raw material input, it is valid to compare the data in Tables 3 and 4. Too much importance should not be attached to the precision of the data in the two tables. The point is that whether the total volume of wood raw material intake by Europe's wood-processing industries is nearer 352 or 361 million m a year, this is a very large amount of wood of which nearly three-quarters is provided by countries' own forests. Taking account of the additional volume from intra-European trade, it means that Europe's forests are supplying roughly 280 million m of wood raw material to the region's wood-processing industries, which incidentally con"rms the "gure of removals in Table 1. This is equivalent to about 1.6 m u.b. of removals per ha (over 2 m o.b./ha of fellings). Converting this into a meaningful value "gure is virtually impossible. Just suppose, however, that the average stumpage price of roundwood in Europe were US$50 and that twothirds of the total area of forest accounted for the bulk of total removals, the result would be a total annual stumpage value of approximately US$14 billion or $120 per ha. These "gures may be quite wide of the mark, but may be adequate to provide a starting point for discussion on the value of wood production to European forest owners.
The structure of Europe's wood-processing industries The European wood-processing sector consists of numerous sawmills, measured in tens of thousands, and a much smaller number, measured in hundreds, of industries producing wood-based panels, woodpulp, paper and paperboard. Unfortunately, recent information at the pan-European level is lacking on the number of mills
The average unit value of industrial roundwood exported by European countries in 1996 was US$ 62.50.
T.J. Peck, A. Ottitsch / Land Use Policy 17 (2000) 209}219
and is incomplete on production capacity of sawmills and some wood-based panels. The number of mills and especially of sawmills has been declining for many years, but this has generally not been accompanied by a fall in capacity, since new mills have tended to be larger and those going out of production smaller than average. This has been particularly noticeable in sawmilling, where a number of very large mills have been built in the last decade or so, while many small, family-owned mills have gone out of production. To illustrate this, the data in Table 5 are for Sweden, one of the most important producer countries in the region (Swedish Forest Industries Federation, 1999). Some of the trends in Sweden may not be typical for Europe as a whole. For example, the number of sawmills did not decline signi"cantly between 1980 and 1998 in the way that they did in many other countries; and the fall in production of wood-based panels was in contrast to the upward trend in most other countries. On the other hand, the consolidation of the
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wood-processing sector, with fewer mills with larger average capacities, was similar to the general trend in Europe. Not apparent from the table is another trend towards integration, particularly in the woodpulp, paper and paperboard industries, but also between those industries and sawmills. As part of the globalisation process, there was also the merging and acquisition of companies, with an important part of total production being concentrated in the hands of a small number of very large companies. This process was more marked in Sweden and Finland than elsewhere in Europe, but it has been taking place at the international as well as national level. The pattern of production of the wood-processing industries, that is to say the share of the di!erent categories of product in total output, varies from country to country as a result of various conditions, including availability, dimensions and quality of raw material, cost of energy and transport, environmental and other legislation, tari!s, and other factors a!ecting comparative advantage.
Table 5 Number and capacity of wood-processing mills in Sweden in 1980 and 1998
Sawmills (m) Wood-based panels (m) Woodpulp (m.t.) Paper & paperboard (m.t.)
Number of mills (number)
Capacity (1000 units)
Average capacity per mill (units)
1980
1998
1980
1998
1980
1998
2400 32 72 62
2300 13 46 50
10,800 1890 10,500 7200
15,000 992 11,000 10,700
4500 59,100 145,000 115,000
6500 76,300 238,000 215,000
Source: Swedish Forest Industries Federation (1999). Approximate data. Production. Average production per mill.
Table 6 Share of wood-processing industries based on wood raw material input in selected European countries in 1996 (percent of total)
Europe Austria Czech Rep. Finland France Germany Ireland Italy Norway Poland Portugal Romania Spain Sweden Turkey UK
Sawn softwood Sawn hardwood Plywood & veneers
Particle board
Fibreboard
35.6 56.0 55.7 27.1 32.2 47.2 59.1 11.8 31.4 45.2 16.4 31.9 23.4 36.3 35.2 38.0
12.5 10.4 9.9 1.5 13.1 26.9 12.3 30.3 4.4 15.0 7.9 6.8 16.0 1.2 15.9 34.1
3.2 0.9 2.0 0.4 2.7 3.4 26.9 14.1 2.0 7.2 5.6 3.4 6.1 0.6 5.1 8.5
6.5 2.0 6.1 0.2 17.0 4.6 1.7 15.7 0.3 8.5 7.0 29.5 7.3 0.5 29.9 3.0
3.3 1.7 2.7 3.8 4.4 4.1 * 17.5 0.4 1.7 2.0 5.4 5.8 0.4 1.6 0.1
Note: Percentages may not add to exactly 100, due to rounding. Source: UN-ECE/FAO (1998).
Mech. & semi-chem Chemical woodpulp woodpulp (incl. diss.) 9.3 3.7 2.1 18.0 6.6 6.2 * 8.8 31.5 2.6 * 3.1 3.1 11.4 3.2 16.3
29.5 25.3 21.6 48.9 24.0 7.6 * 1.7 30.0 19.9 61.2 19.9 38.4 49.4 9.0 *
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T.J. Peck, A. Ottitsch / Land Use Policy 17 (2000) 209}219
The relative size of industries, in terms of the share of wood raw material input, is shown for selected countries in Table 6. Woodpulp manufacturing is the most important part of the wood-processing sector in terms of raw material input in the three Nordic countries, Finland, Norway and Sweden, as well as Portugal with over 60% of the total. Sawmilling is the most important, with 50% or more, in several central European countries (Austria, Czech Republic, France, Germany, Poland and Romania) as well as Ireland and Turkey. In most countries, production of sawn softwood (coniferous sawnwood) is far more important than that of sawn hardwood (non-coniferous sawnwood), but countries where the latter is signi"cant include France, Italy, Romania and Turkey. In four countries, Germany, Ireland, Italy and the United Kingdom, production of particle board and "breboard, which includes MDF (medium density "breboard) accounts for 30% or more of the total raw material input. In contrast, it accounts for less than 2% in Finland and Sweden. To explain the reasons for the di!erent patterns between countries would require analysis on a country by country basis. To take one simple example: the proportions of 59% of sawn softwood and 39% of particle board and "breboard in Ireland result essentially from the raw material base of mainly Sitka spruce plantations, which is not yet large enough to support a viably sized woodpulp industry.
Relative importance of the wood-processing industries It would be useful for policy-making and other purposes to be able to report that the wood-processing
industries in European countries account for &x' percent of total Gross National Product (GNP) or &y' percent of the total value of manufacturing. Amongst other things it would make it possible to determine whether national policies relating to industrial development, employment, trade and so on were paying not enough or too much attention to the wood-processing sector. Unfortunately, statistical series published at the international level, for example of national accounts, do not provide enough detail to allow the sector to be singled out. Furthermore, it takes time to compile them, so that the information when it becomes available tends to be out of date. Thus the OECD publication of National Accounts (OECD, 1998) shows the forestry and wood-processing sector under three items: (i) forestry and logging; (ii) wood and wood products, including furniture; and (iii) paper and paper products, printing and publishing (Table 6). And the latest available data refer to 1996 or even earlier years. For item (ii) furniture presumably includes all types and not that based principally on wood. For item (iii) printing and publishing are important industries in their own right. Despite these snags, the data in Table 7 showing the share of forestry, wood and paper industries in total GNP are of some indicative interest. The "nal column shows that the share of the wood and paper industries (including furniture, printing and publishing but excluding forestry and logging) in most of the OECD countries providing data was between 2 and 3% of total GNP. It is noticeably higher in Finland (6.1%) and Sweden (4.6%), both countries are major producers and exporters of wood products. Another source (Manfredi, 1997) provides information on the share of forest-based industries as a share of total
Table 7 Share of forestry, wood and paper industries in total Gross National Product (GNP) at current prices (percent of total GNP) Country
Year
Forestry and logging
Wood & wood products, incl. furniture
Paper & paper products, printing & publishing
Total forestry, wood and paper, etc.
Austria Belgium Denmark Finland France Germany Italy Netherlands Norway Portugal Spain Sweden Canada USA Japan New Zealand
1996 1996 1995 1996 1996 1993 1992 1995 1996 1993 1994 1994 1993 1996 1996 1994
* * 0.09 2.11 0.22 0.19 0.05 * 0.25 0.78 * 1.15 0.70 * * 1.51
1.09 * 1.09 1.04 0.62 0.97 1.17 0.46 0.43 0.93 0.63 1.12 1.21 0.84 * 1.38
1.62 1.26 2.12 5.06 1.54 1.25 1.34 2.00 1.83 1.22 1.17 3.45 1.86 2.01 0.72 2.56
* * 3.30 8.21 2.38 2.41 2.56 * 2.51 2.93 * 5.72 3.77 * * 5.45
Source: OECD (1998). Western LaK nder only.
Wood and paper, etc. (excl. forestry)
2.71 * 3.21 6.10 2.16 2.22 2.51 2.46 2.26 2.15 1.80 4.57 3.07 2.85 * 3.94
T.J. Peck, A. Ottitsch / Land Use Policy 17 (2000) 209}219 Table 8 Output of forest-based industries in selected countries as share of total manufacturing output in 1994 (percent of total manufacturing output) Country
Austria Belgium Bulgaria Denmark Finland France Germany Hungary Italy Netherlands Poland Portugal Romania Slovakia Slovenia Sweden Switzerland Turkey
Wood products (excl. furniture)
Furniture
3.2 0.6 1.4 2.0 6.1 1.6 1.2 2.3 1.2 1.0 1.3 4.6 2.1 0.9 3.6 5.3 * 0.9
3.5 3.7 1.1 2.5 1.0 1.3 1.7 * 2.0 0.8 * 1.7 * * 4.6 1.0 * 0.4
Paper and Total paper products 4.5 2.1 1.8 2.7 17.9 2.8 2.4 2.0 2.6 2.9 2.0 3.7 1.2 4.3 7.0 10.2 2.1 0.6
11.2 6.5 4.3 7.2 25.0 5.7 5.3 * 5.8 4.7 * 10.0 * * 15.2 16.5 * 1.9
Source: Manfredi (1997). 1993. 1992.
manufacturing output (Table 8). Furniture is shown separately from wood products, while printing and publishing are not included with paper and paper products. The share of the three groups in aggregate (wood products, furniture, paper and paper products) varies quite widely from country to country, with the range for most being between 4 and 11%, but with Finland, Slovenia and Sweden noticeably higher: 25% in the case of Finland. The same source provides information on the number of employees in the three groups as a share of the total number in manufacturing (Table 9). This shows that the share is mostly between 4 and 12%, but much higher in Finland (20%) and Sweden (14%). The information in Tables 7}9 gives no indication of the long-term trend in the relative importance of the wood-processing industries or in employment by them. Pending further analysis, it may be tentatively assumed that in European as a whole, the pulp and paper and wood-based panels industries have expanded approximately in line with the overall economy, while the sawmilling industry has lagged behind. European production in 1970, 1980, 1990 and 1997 is shown in Table 10. Between 1970 and 1997 output of sawnwood increased by 13% (with actually no increase between 1980 and 1997), of woodpulp by 38%, of wood-based panels by 105% and of paper and paperboard by 115%. The contrast in growth rates between woodpulp and paper and paperboard is explained by the rapid increase in the use of secondary "bres (waste paper) for papermaking, as well
215
Table 9 Number of employees in the forest-based industries as share of all employees in manufacturing in 1994 (percent of all manufacturing employees) Country
Wood products (excl. furniture)
Furniture
Paper and paper products
Total
Austria Belgium Bulgaria Denmark Finland France Germany Hungary Italy Netherlands Poland Portugal Romania Slovakia Slovenia Sweden Switzerland Turkey
2.8 1.8 2.1 2.9 7.0 2.2 1.7 2.0 1.4 1.7 1.4 2.6 2.6 * 4.8 5.2 * 1.4
5.9 2.9 2.2 4.1 2.2 1.9 2.3 * 2.5 1.5 * 0.9 * * * 1.5 * 0.7
3.3 2.5 2.0 2.1 11.3 2.6 2.4 1.5 2.2 3.3 1.4 2.0 1.2 3.1 * 7.2 1.9 2.1
12.0 7.2 6.3 9.1 20.5 6.7 6.4 * 6.1 6.5 * 5.5 * * * 13.9 * 4.2
Source: Manfredi (1997). 1992. 1993.
as increased imports of woodpulp and the fall in output of non-paper-making pulp (dissolving pulp). The sharp decline in sawn hardwood production since 1980 is partly explained by the lower output in two important hardwood countries, Romania and former Yugoslavia, as well as increased imports of sawn hardwood and of added value products from other regions. Notable increases in productivity occurred in all industries and, despite rising production, the numbers employed declined. One example of this trend is Sweden, where the numbers employed in 1980 and 1996 are given in Table 11. There was a fall of 37% over the 16 yr in employment in wood-processing (forest products industry) and an even steeper decline in forestry (silviculture). The table is also interesting in showing that, besides direct employment in the forestry and wood-processing sector, indirect employment in activities connected with the sector is of considerable importance. In the case of Sweden the numbers estimated to be indirectly employed are not very much less than those directly employed. The classi"cation of international industrial statistics does not, unfortunately, allow the relative importance of the wood-processing industries in the overall national economies to be precisely determined. Roughly speaking, these industries account for between 2 and 3% of GNP in many European countries and appreciably more in the major wood products exporting countries. While on the one hand these percentages are in#ated by the inclusion of some related industries, such as furniture and printing
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T.J. Peck, A. Ottitsch / Land Use Policy 17 (2000) 209}219
Table 10 Output of the wood-processing industries in Europe (excluding Baltic countries), 1970 to 1997 1970
1980 1990 (million units)
1997
Change 1970 to 1997 (%)
Sawnwood (m), of which: Sawn softwood Sawn hardwood
82.5 64.2 18.3
93.5 74.1 19.4
91.5 73.8 17.7
93.0 80.1 12.8
#12.7 #24.8 !29.8
Wood-based panels (m), of which: Veneer sheets Plywood Particle board (incl. OSB) Compressed "breboard (incl. MDF) Non-compressed "breboard
22.4 1.8 4.1 12.3 2.7 1.5
34.3 1.8 3.7 24.3 3.2 1.3
38.2 2.0 3.5 28.4 3.5 0.9
46.0 1.8 3.8 34.0 5.8 0.7
#105.3 #3.9 !7.9 #175.4 #109.9 !55.2
Woodpulp (m.t.), of which: Mechanical Semi-chemical Chemical (paper) Dissolving pulp
27.5 8.4 1.5 16.0 1.6
30.7 9.3 1.6 18.4 1.4
37.3 12.8 1.7 21.8 1.0
38.1 12.6 1.5 23.5 0.4
#38.4 #50.2 #0.3 #47.0 ! 75.1
Paper & paperboard (m.t.), of which: Newsprint Other printing and writing Other paper and paperboard
39.0 5.9 10.4 22.6
50.7 6.5 15.2 29.0
68.3 8.7 23.8 35.8
83.9 10.0 31.7 42.2
#115.2 #69.0 #203.8 #86.4
Notes: (1) Detail may not add to totals due to rounding. (2) Percentage changes 1970 to 1997 based on units to nearest thousand. (3) OSB"Oriented Strand Board; MDF"Medium Density Fibreboard. Source: UN-ECE/FAO database.
Table 11 Employment in the Swedish forest products industry and silviculture in 1980 and 1996 (numbers employed) 1980 Pulp and paper Packaging & other papergoods Sawmilling Joinery & boards
1996
46,000 12,000 23,000 34,000
32,000 11,000 15,000 14,000
Total, forest products industry & Silviculture
115,000 60,000
72,000 26,000
Total forest products industry & silviculture Estimated indirect employment created by the forest products industry
175,000 150,000
98,000 90,000
to national economies, as well as to society in terms of the variety of products that meet its everyday needs and of the employment they provide. At the same time, Europe's wood-processing industries purchase more than ninetenths of the wood harvested annually and depend on the European forest for nearly three-quarters of their wood raw material requirements. Consequently, they are essential partners to forest owners and managers in their e!orts to pursue the sustainable development of the European resource.
Wood processing industries and forest sustainability Wood processing and sustainable timber production
Source: Swedish Forest Industries Federation (1999).
and publishing, on the other hand they do not include ancillary activities. The wood-processing industries' share of manufacturing output in European countries is mostly between 4 and 11% with, again, higher percentages in some major exporting countries. As a generalisation, it may be concluded that, while the wood-processing industries may not be comparable in size to a number of other sectors, such as chemicals, metallurgy or engineering, they are one of a quite large number of industries that are important, even essential,
Following a critical theory approach to land-use allocation, the distribution of land and land use mirrors the distribution of power within the society (Soja, 1989). Liberal general equilibrium theory, projected onto the allocation of land uses, suggests that under ideal market conditions, land may be allocated to the most pro"table land use, meaning the one which is willing to pay most for purchasing or renting the land. Since forestry is, compared to other forms of land use, a rather low interest-rate activity, forests have remained mainly in areas that were so far of little interest to other forms of land use (Hyttinen et al., 1999). Consequently, it may be deduced
T.J. Peck, A. Ottitsch / Land Use Policy 17 (2000) 209}219
that laws aiming at protecting forest resources were established not in the interest of local forest owners or other local stakeholders, since their main interest would have consisted of converting the land to other uses (i.e., primarily agriculture), but rather in the interest of other, more powerful interests within the societies. The concept of forestry as a ®alium', along with mining and other important economic activities, as being a right of the emperor (of the Holy Roman Empire of German Nation), which had been developed in the Medieval Ages in Central Europe, is one of the most prominent examples of this connection of political and economic power with forestry-related activities. Industries based on the supply of wood in large quantities represent such interests. Early steel and mining industries were among the "rst ones to create the need for a more planned approach to logging activities. In many European countries mining and related processing industries were among the main factors in creating a demand for high quantities of timber. Examples for this include Austria, Finland, Norway, Portugal, Spain, Sweden (Hyttinen et al., 1999), even though they di!er to some degree as regards the time when these developments took place. With the increasing availability of coal, the role of wood as industrial fuel decreased in importance from the late 18th century on. However, wood continued to be a valuable resource and new technology allowed also for larger and more e!ective processing of the resources, thus resulting in wood-processing industries becoming a signi"cant economical factor. Raw material needs of these important actors led to an increased level of government regulation, resulting in quite signi"cant restrictions for private owners. The common issues of new forest acts, which had been enacted starting from the second half of the 19th century, were the principles of a primacy of timber production, sustainable raw material production, forestry professionalism and long-term orientation of forest planning. This can be stated for two such distinct examples as the Austrian Forest Act of 1852 as well as for the Forest Act of 1886 for Finland, then a Grand-Duchy of the Russian Empire, both of which have had signi"cant in#uence in their respective national context until today. The United Kingdom is another example for timberneeds being the driving force behind expanding forestry activities. Although some concerns had already arisen during the Napoleonic wars, when supply from Scandinavian countries had been restricted due to the political situation in Europe, major a!orestation e!orts in the UK are usually attributed to the experiences of the First World War, when the threat of German submarines had shown the vulnerability of a high import-dependency during times of crisis. These e!orts were again increased after the Second World War, even though scenarios of world-wide military con#ict changed quite distinctively
217
during the Cold War (Mackay, 1995). Consequently most of the a!orestation done until recently in the UK focused on economically pro"table cultivation of fast-growing conifers, which had to face increasing criticism from environmental concerns. The new UK Forest Strategy on the other hand is giving more focus on environmental and social aspects, following the general change in international forest policies in the 1990s. The connection between forest industries and national timber supply also has been an interesting factor in the allocation of new processing capacities. With processing plants being a potentially vital factor for the economies of remote rural areas, companies have been striving to obtain long-term agreements on supply and price-conditions from local authorities or other forms of public support, such as the development of access-networks or other infrastructure measures. This factor plays a speci"c role in countries with a higher share of public forest, since only direct government control of resources allows for such agreements. The degree to which such practices have resulted in more or less obvious market-distortions has so far not been thoroughly researched in a European context. Thus the hypothesis is formulated here that well-developed wood-processing industries have been a major factor in the development of legislation and other policy instruments for the protection of forest resources in Europe. This argument, admittedly, is not in line with logging activities being seen as one of the major threats to forest resources world-wide, which is widely used by environmental organisations (e.g., Dudley, 1992) but also in scienti"c analysis of the problem of deforestation (e.g., Sunderlin, 1998). However, it is pointed out here that the argument refers to legislation and policies in favour of creating or maintaining sources of timber supply, without necessarily regarding other market and non-market products and services, which have become increasingly an object of interest and attention in the international debate. Another e!ect of the dominance of forest industries in forest policies can be seen in restrictions governing the trade of processed timber products, which in an international context is also seen as a major factor for many developing countries not being able to realise the full value of their forests for their societies (Barbier, 1998). In addition it also seems noteworthy to draw attention to the fact that countries, which could rely on import from overseas, put less emphasis on the goal of developing national raw material supplies. Wood processing and forest ecosystems sustainability Generally regarded as another e!ect of the political success of urban, post-materialist views in politics, speci"cally in the US and Western Europe, the concept of sustainable forestry has been rede"ned in the last decade. While the &old' production function had the primary goal
218
T.J. Peck, A. Ottitsch / Land Use Policy 17 (2000) 209}219
of sustainable raw-material production, with other products and services as well as environmental and social goals as restrictions, the &new' paradigm now has the sustainable management of forest ecosystems as the main production function, with a variety of products and services, timber production being one among many, resulting from this endeavour. At least this is what o$cial documents and political declarations are stating. While the rise of post-materialist values is one factor in#uencing the forest sector internationally, the sector has also undergone considerable restructuring in the last decades. For one thing, technological changes have resulted in the establishment of newer plants with higher production capacities and simultaneously reduced the number of plants in general. On the other hand, forest industries nowadays are worldwide operations with strong international links concerning ownership and control of production resources. Raw material supply is also increasingly internationalised with big processing industries being able to meet their supply needs from worldwide markets at world-market prices. It is not the intention of this contribution to chime into the chorus of laments on &globalisation', but on the other hand this context should be kept in mind when discussing forest policy issues. Environmental interest organisations have become important actors in forest policy, at global as well as national levels, yet the importance of forest industries also is worth recognising. It is worth drawing attention to the fact that forest industries are both the target but also the partners of choice for environmental concerns related to forestry practices While being powerful institutions, able to in#uence policy decisions with the prospect of employment and income especially to less developed rural regions, forest industries are companies depending on markets and the acceptances of their products by the "nal consumer, which ultimately are also in#uenced by the value preferences of the societies, in which these consumers live. While there exist possibilities to in#uence values and related decisions through means of public relations and advertising, these are not unlimited. In spite of a shift towards more materialistic values following the recession of the early 1990s, environmental values nowadays are so widely accepted, at least within the more a%uent societies, that most industries cannot a!ord to neglect these attitudes. Consequently, wood-processing industries have reacted through seeking dialogue with environmental organisations at national and international levels. Ecocerti"cation is perhaps the most prominent example for this new form of co-operation. In Europe the majority of forest land certi"ed under the FSC-label is listed under the category &industrial' ownership, which as of the time of writing this paper, makes up for around 78% of all FSC-certi"ed forest area in Europe (FSC, 1999).
In the context of forest certi"cation, which is seen as a major tool towards more sustainable forest managemen by leading environmental organisations, it is also interesting to note that the very concept of certi"cation of achieving sustainable forest management by means of labelling timber products bears a striking resemblance to the old ideology of &wake-water theory'. While under the old paradigm it was assumed that overall forest sustainability could be achieved as a by-product of sustainable timber production, now again it is but one output of forest management, namely timber, which is used for sustainability assessment and which basically would also have to cover any additional costs involved, even though the criteria have now changed. Current issues as regards the role of European forests as sources of industrial raw material One of the major features of European forestry, as has already been outlined out in preceding sections of this paper is the increase both in forest area as in growing stock in most European countries. While there exists an increasing trend in forest growth rates (Spiecker et al., 1996), the reasons for which are currently being investigated in a large international research project co-ordinated by the European Forest Institute, the reasons for this quantitative increase of forest resources can more likely be traced to economic and social factors. Agricultural decline can be traced as one major responsible factor. With decreasing revenue from agriculture, a large number of farms have been abandoned, with the land either being consciously a!orested as part of a last low-level activity or just becoming forest again as a result of natural succession. In addition it must not be forgotten that a!orestation programmes, which had been initiated in forest-poor countries, also have "nally shown results. In addition the rather low level of timber prices throughout the last decade has contributed to reduced levels of harvesting, speci"cally among small-scale private land owners, on less-productive sites and for smaller dimension material, such as thinning cuts. On the other hand, wood imports have signi"cantly increased, even to countries with high levels of national resources. While price considerations may be one factor here, sometimes it is also an issue of lack of adequate raw-material supply, partly resulting from past shifts in species composition due to the needs of speci"c segments of forest industries. Forest industries * a decisive factor for sustainable forest management Yet in spite of these increased levels of imports, European forest industries still gain the majority of their supply from sources inside Europe, as has been demonstrated in an earlier section of this paper. Their raw material needs may be expected to be decisive factors in
T.J. Peck, A. Ottitsch / Land Use Policy 17 (2000) 209}219
forest policies in Europe in the future as well. Regardless of the wide variety of other values, which societies are deriving from forestry activities, timber production continues to be the main source of cash income from forest management activities for the majority of European forests. An example of the importance of forest industries in the context of forest sustainability is the fact that major timber-producing countries, speci"cally from those where timber industries are of high national importance, have been at the forefront of implementing the new concept of forest sustainability through the formulation of new forest legislation, national forest programmes or a high level of activity concerning forest certi"cation, especially under the FSC-level, even though here the di!erent interests and possibilities of industries and small scale private land owners become quite apparent. But it is not only in the context of large-scale operations that the importance of processing industries becomes important. Small-scale approaches, linked to local interests have shown signi"cant potential to increase forestry-related income and employment in rural areas of Europe as well as the interest of local forest owners in planned and co-ordinated forest management activities often based on concepts of co-operative management, a context which is also better suited for the implementation of new concepts than extremely desegregated units.
Conclusions This paper has on the one hand tried to demonstrate the dimensions, in absolute as well as in relative terms of the economic importance and relevance of forest industries in Europe. As far as the economic importance of the forest sector is concerned, it could be demonstrated that the major employment e!ects from forest resources, at least based upon currently available methods of assessment, are linked to wood-processing industries. A link was also established between European forest industries and European forest resources, with the former being able to cover the majority of their raw-material needs from the latter. In addition it was then demonstrated how this link has contributed to the protection and further development of forest resources in Europe, at least as far as the quantity of resources and their protection against competing land-uses was concerned. Finally the conclusion is drawn that, while the new de"nition of forest sustainability as the sustainable management of forest ecosystems for the full value to societies can be considered a consider-
219
able shift in paradigm towards post-materialist values and concepts, the reality of the importance of forest industries and their needs has remained. The argument is made that it is in fact the forced rational economic approach to decision making, which is linked to the very nature of industrial business activities, that has facilitated the adoption of and adaptation to new developments in societies. At least as far as activities in a European context are concerned, industries have been willing to adapt to such new developments, a fact that has become evident in the new partnerships between environmental NGOs and industries, which might prove a challenge for other actors in the forest policy arena. References Barbier, E.B., 1998. Timber trade and environment. In: Palo, M., Uusivuorio, J. (Eds.), World Forests Society and the Environment. Kluwer Academic Publishers, Dordrecht, 1998, pp. 106}117 Canadian Wood Council, 1999. Consumers: Wood Facts. Homepage www.cwc.ca. 1 p. Dudley, N., 1992. Forests in trouble * a review of the status of temperate forests worldwide; world wide fund for nature. Gland. FSC 1999 FSC-Webpages, FSC, 1999, http://www.fscoax.org/html/5-33.html Hyttinen, P., Ottitsch, A., Pelli, P., Niskanen, A., 1999. Forest related resources, industries, services and know-how in border regions of the European Union. EFI-Working Paper Nr. 21, European Forest Institute, 1999. Mackay, D., 1995. Scotland's Rural Land use Agencies * The History and E!ectiveness in Scotland of the Forestry Commission Nature Conservancy Council and Countryside Commission for Scotland. Scottish Cultural Press. Aberdeen, 1995 Manfredi, C., 1997. Contribution of forest industries to national economies in Europe. In: International Labour O$ce Geneva (Ed.), People, Forests and Sustainability: Social Elements of Sustainable Forest Management in Europe. ILO, Geneva, SAP 2.63/WP.113, pp. 193}203. OECD, 1998. National Accounts, Vol. II. Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, Paris. Soja, E.W., 1989. Postmodern Geographies * The Reassertion of Space in Critical Social Theory. Verso. London, New York. Spiecker, H., MielikaK inen, K., KoK hl, M., Skovsgaard, J.P. (Eds.), 1996. Growth Trends in European Forests - Studies from 12 Countries. Springer, Heidelberg. Sunderlin, W.D., 1998. Development of the forest sector in Indonesia. In: Palo, M., Uusivuorio, J. (Eds.), World Forests Society and the Environment. Kluwer Academic Publishers, Dordrecht, 1998, p. 214}221. Swedish Forest Industries Federation, 1999. The Swedish Forest Industries: Facts and Figures 1998. The Swedish Forest Industries Federation, Stockholm, pp. 19. UN-ECE/FAO, 2000. Forest Resources of Europe, CIS, North America, Australia, Japan and New Zealand: UN-ECE/FAO Contribution to the Global Forest Resources Assessment 2000: Main Report. United Nations, New York and Geneva.
The European forest as source of industrial raw materials T.J. Peck*, A. Ottitsch European Forest Institute, 34 Torikatu, FIN-80100 Joensuu, Finland Received 9 November 1999; accepted 23 March 2000
Abstract The forest industries are among the more important industrial sectors in Europe. They are the customers for the bulk of the wood produced in Europe's forests. The sale of wood to them is the source of the major part of the revenue that forest owners derive from their forests. Even though the non-wood goods and services of the forest are of increasing importance, it is inevitable that wood production will continue to "gure prominently in most management plans. Consequently, the maintenance of a healthy forest industry is a key element in achieving the economic, social and environmental sustainability of Europe's forests. This paper is in two parts. The "rst describes in broad terms the role of the forest as source of industrial raw material, the use of the raw material by the wood-processing industries and their place in national economies. This will serve to highlight the inter-dependency between the forest resource and the wood-processing industries. The second part will consider the policy implications of this inter-dependency, particularly from the point of view of the relative importance of the wood-producing function of the forest and in the context of the economic, social and environmental sustainability of forest management under European conditions. The hypothesis will be explored that in a region such as Europe, with a high density and economically advanced population, the maintenance of a healthy forest}industries sector is a key element in achieving sustainability of Europe's forests. 2000 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved. Keywords: Europe; Forest resources; Industrial wood raw materials; Wood-processing industries; Policy
Introduction It is said that there are more than 5000 articles in everyday use that are derived from wood (Canadian Wood Council, 1999). A few are cut from the tree and used without further transformation, but the vast majority have been through one or more stages of processing before they reach the ultimate consumer or user. The wood-processing industries are therefore an essential link in the chain of supply from the source of wood raw material to every one who uses wood products. These industries also contribute materially to national and local, especially rural, economies and are important employers, both directly and through ancillary activities, such as transport and distribution. It goes without saying that their ability to perform these functions is wholly dependent on the forest as the principal source of their raw materials.
* Corresponding author. Tel.: #41-22-776-10-69; fax: #41-22-77610-69. E-mail address: [email protected] (T.J. Peck).
In the context of this paper, Europe includes, unless otherwise stated, all countries from Iceland in the north west to Turkey and Cyprus in the south east, and Finland and Estonia in the north east to Portugal and Spain in the south west. It does not include the Russian Federation and other Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS), mainly because the sheer size of the CIS forest resource would tend to distort analysis and the situation in those countries di!ers in several important respects from that in the rest of Europe.
The European forest as source of wood In the 1990s, the area of forest in Europe was about 176 million hectares (ha) with a further 40 million classi"ed as &other wooded land' (UN-ECE/FAO, 2000). Together, these areas account for 38% of the total land area and in most countries represent a signi"cant feature of the landscape. Forest classi"ed as available for wood supply, that is either being regularly harvested or if not, not subjected to legal or other restrictions on harvesting, amounted to 149 million ha or 85% of the total forest
0264-8377/00/$ - see front matter 2000 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved. PII: S 0 2 6 4 - 8 3 7 7 ( 0 0 ) 0 0 0 1 3 - 2
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T.J. Peck, A. Ottitsch / Land Use Policy 17 (2000) 209}219
area. Some volumes of wood are taken from forest not available for wood supply and other wooded land, as well as from trees outside the forest, but the bulk * around 95% * is removed from forest available for wood supply (FAWS). The volume of growing stock on European FAWS is assessed as 21.2 billion m overbark (o.b.), an average of 145 m o.b. per ha, and nearly two-thirds of it consists of coniferous species. Net annual increment (NAI) on FAWS is estimated at 640 million m o.b., an average of 4.3 m o.b. per ha. Total fellings during the 1990s were averaging about 440 million m o.b. a year, of which those on FAWS were 426 million m. NAI on FAWS was thus about 214 million m o.b. a year or 50% higher than fellings, which explains why the volume of Europe's growing stock has been increasing rather strongly. This trend has been evident over at least the past 50 years and has been one of the most notable features of European forestry. It could be said that the present level of fellings in the region is at the very least sustainable; indeed, a case could be made on environmental and social as well as economic grounds for bringing the level of Europe's fellings up closer to that of NAI. Higher NAI than fellings is common to the great majority of European countries and, although di$cult to quantify, the gap between the two is relatively more marked for broadleaved than for coniferous species. Total removals of roundwood from the European forest in 1996 amounted to 360 million m u.b. (underbark measure), removals being the volume of fellings less the volume of felling losses left in the forest (Table 1). The volume of removals #uctuates from year to year for both supply reasons, such as weather conditions or clearance of storm-damaged trees, and demand reasons. The medium- to long-term trend has, nevertheless, been gradually upward, mainly as a result of expanding demand from industry. The use of wood in the round, including fuelwood, pitprops, poles and posts, has remained rather #at. Wood for industry may be sub-divided into: (1) sawlogs and veneer logs, destined for the sawmilling industries and plywood and veneer sheet manufacture; and (2)
pulpwood, for use by the woodpulp, particle board and "breboard industries. There is some inter-changeability between these two categories, depending on market conditions, but generally speaking the larger diameter logs are used as sawlogs and veneer logs and the small-sized ones as pulpwood. In recent decades the pulpwood-using industries have expanded faster than the others, but this has not resulted in faster growth in demand for pulpwood for three reasons. Firstly, their use of recycled wood in the form of wood residues, chips and particles, mainly from the sawmilling industries, has increased at a faster rate than that of virgin "bre (roundwood pulpwood) from the forest. Secondly, growth in demand for woodpulp by the paper and paperboard industries has been constrained by the increasing recovery and re-utilisation of waste paper as raw material. Thirdly, industries in some European countries have been importing increasing quantities of roundwood, for reasons of cost, commercial strategy or quality, even if domestic sources were capable of raising supply. Table 2 shows removals of wood for industry in 1996 in 17 countries which together accounted for 92% of the European total of 283 million m. In most of these countries, wood for industry made up three quarters or more (over 90% in the Nordic countries, Germany, Czech Republic, Portugal and the United Kingdom). In a few (Turkey, Italy) where fuelwood is still harvested in large volumes, wood for industry made up little more than one-third of total removals. Coniferous species accounted for 78% of total removals of wood for industry and non-coniferous (broadleaved) for 22%. Countries where the latter species were relatively important (onethird or more of the total) included France, Spain, Portugal, Turkey, Romania, Latvia, Slovakia and notably Italy with 73%. Those with 90% or more of coniferous removals included Sweden, Czech Republic, Austria, Norway and the United Kingdom. The supply of wood raw material to Europe's woodprocessing industries in 1996 is shown in Table 3. Of the total of 352 million m, 296 million or 84% was supplied
Table 1 Trends in European roundwood removals, 1993}1999 (million m) Actual 1993 Total removals, of which: 329.9 Fuelwood, pitprops, poles, posts, pilings, etc. 76.8 Wood for industry, of which: 253.2 Sawlogs & veneer logs 147.9 Coniferous 120.4 Non-coniferous 27.6 Pulpwood 105.2 Coniferous 74.2 Non-coniferous 31.1
1994
1995
1996
Timber committee forecasts 1997 1998 1999
358.9 75.4 283.5 169.6 138.9 30.7 113.9 81.3 32.6
375.7 73.3 302.4 180.0 146.6 33.4 122.4 88.7 33.7
359.9 77.3 282.6 170.9 139.9 30.9 111.7 79.7 32.0
385.5 77.0 308.5 187.6 155.2 32.4 120.9 86.1 34.8
389.6 77.6 312.0 189.4 155.8 33.5 122.7 87.2 35.5
Note: Detail may not add to totals due to rounding. Source: UNECE/FAO, Timber Bulletin, Vol. LI (1998), Nos. 2 and 6.
394.2 78.1 316.1 191.7 158.0 33.7 124.3 88.4 35.9
T.J. Peck, A. Ottitsch / Land Use Policy 17 (2000) 209}219
211
Table 2 Removals of roundwood for industry in European countries in 1996 Total removals
Europe Sweden Finland Germany France Poland Spain Czech Rep. Austria Portugal Norway UK Turkey Romania Latvia Slovakia Lithuania Italy 17 countries Others
359.9 56.3 46.3 37.0 40.4 20.3 15.6 12.6 15.0 9.0 8.4 7.1 19.4 12.3 8.1 5.5 5.5 9.1 327.9 32.0
Roundwood for industry, of which:
Coniferous
Volume (million m)
Percent of total removals (%)
Volume (million m)
Percent of Volume roundwood for (million m) industry (%)
Percent of roundwood for industry (%)
282.6 52.0 42.2 33.4 30.2 16.6 11.7 11.4 11.2 8.2 7.7 6.4 6.6 5.9 5.2 4.9 4.2 3.3 261.1 21.5
78.5 92.4 91.2 90.3 74.7 81.7 74.8 90.3 74.7 91.9 97.4 90.6 34.2 47.9 63.9 89.4 76.0 36.0 79.6 67.2
219.7 48.2 37.3 26.3 17.8 12.4 7.2 10.3 10.4 4.4 7.5 5.9 4.2 3.7 3.0 3.1 3.4 0.9 206.2 13.4
77.7 92.7 88.5 78.6 59.1 74.9 61.9 90.4 92.9 53.7 97.2 92.1 63.8 63.4 58.1 63.8 79.8 27.0 79.0 62.7
22.3 7.3 11.5 21.4 40.9 25.1 38.1 9.6 7.1 46.3 2.8 7.9 36.2 36.6 41.9 36.2 20.2 73.0 21.0 37.4
Non-coniferous
62.9 3.8 4.8 7.1 12.4 4.2 4.5 1.1 0.8 3.8 0.2 0.5 2.4 2.1 2.2 1.8 0.8 2.4 54.9 8.0
Note: Percentages calculated from "gures to nearest 1000 m. Source: UNECE/FAO, Timber Bulletin, Vol. L1, No.2 Total removals less pitprops, poles, pilings, posts, etc., and fuelwood. Table 3 Supply of wood raw material to Europe's wood-processing industries in 1996 Domestic sources
Roundwood, of which: Sawlogs & veneer logs Pulpwood Wood residues, chips, etc. Total, of which for: Sawnwood, plywood & veneer sheets Woodpulp, particle board and "breboard
Imports
Total
(million m)
(%)
(million m)
(%)
(million m)
(%)
257.3 159.8 97.6 48.1 305.5 159.8 145.7
73.1 45.4 27.7 13.7 86.8 45.4 41.4
38.7 17.6 21.1 7.8 46.5 17.6 28.9
11.0 5.0 6.0 2.2 13.2 5.0 8.2
296.0 177.4 118.6 56.0 352.0 177.4 174.6
84.1 50.4 33.7 15.9 100.0 50.5 49.6
Note: (1) Domestic sources: European countries' own sources (forests, sawmills, etc.). (2) Imports: from both intra-European trade and from other regions. (3) Volumes in million m EQ (equivalent volume of wood in the rough). (4) Percents are of total supply from all sources (352 million m EQ). Source: UN-ECE/FAO (1998).
in the form of roundwood and 56 million as industrial wood residues, chips and particles. Most of the roundwood, 257 million m or 73% of total wood raw material supply, was used in the same country where it was taken from the forest (the "gures were obtained by deducting exports from production or removals). 39 million m were imported either from other European countries or from other regions, notably the Russian Federation (coniferous logs and pulpwood) and the tropics (broadleaved logs). Almost exactly half of total supply was
destined for the sawmilling and the plywood and veneer industries in the form of sawlogs and veneer logs; the other half for the woodpulp, particle board and "breboard industries. The latter's total raw material intake of 175 million m consisted of 119 million of roundwood pulpwood (68%) and 56 million of residues, chips and particles (32%). The roundwood supply data in Table 3 are based on removals and trade statistics and their reliability as an indicator of their destination depends on whether the
212
T.J. Peck, A. Ottitsch / Land Use Policy 17 (2000) 209}219
Table 4 Derived estimates of wood raw material input by European woodprocessing industries in 1996 Production
From sawlogs and veneer logs Sawn softwood Sawn hardwood Plywood Veneer sheets
Unit
(million)
m m m m
78.5 12.7 3.8 1.9
Sub-total From pulpwood, incl. residues & chips Particle board, m incl. OSB Fibreboard, incl. m MDF Mechanical m.t. woodpulp Semi-chemical m.t. woodpulp Chemical (paper) m.t. woodpulp Dissolving pulp m.t.
Conversion Raw material factor input (million m EQ)
1.64 1.82 2.3 1.8
128.7 23.1 8.8 3.3 163.9
31.7
1.43
45.4
6.3
1.83
11.6
11.8
2.5
29.5
1.4
3.0
4.2
21.9
4.8
104.9
0.4
5.46
2.0
Sub-total
197.5
Total
361.5
Note: (1) Conversion factors are European averages. Conversion calculations to m EQ made from data to nearest 1000 units. (2) OSB: Oriented strand board; MDF: Medium density "breboard. (3) Detail may not add to totals due to rounding. Source: UN-ECE/FAO (1998).
roundwood sold as sawlogs was actually used to make sawnwood, veneer logs for plywood and veneer sheets, and pulpwood for woodpulp, particle board and "breboard. A means of cross-checking is to take the production "gures for these products and apply conversion factors to estimate the amount of wood raw material required. This is done in Table 4. The result of these calculations gives a total wood raw material requirement by the European wood-processing industries in 1996 of 361 million m EQ (equivalent volume of wood in the rough). The di!erence between this "gure and that of total supply in Table 3 is less than 3%, which can be accepted as reasonable and can be attributed to a number of factors. One is the use of inappropriate conversion factors: those shown in Table 4 are estimated averages for all European countries and may not be satisfactory, given the wide variations from country to country and even industry to industry that are known to occur. Another is that in some countries non-wood raw material is of importance, for instance in Belgium and some other
countries the use of #ax shives for particle board. This was not taken into account in the calculations of wood raw material input in Table 4. It is noticeable that the "gure of input of sawlogs and veneer logs in Table 4 (164 million m) is 8% lower than the corresponding "gure of supply in Table 3 (177 million), while that of input of pulpwood, etc., of 197 million is 13% higher than the supply "gure of 175 million in Table 3. This seems to suggest that some roundwood classi"ed as sawlogs and veneer logs may in fact have been used as pulpwood; also possibly that some roundwood removed as fuelwood, pitprops, poles, posts, etc., may also have been used as pulpwood; or that some removals were not recorded at all. It may also be observed that there is an element of double-counting: part of the supplied volume of sawlogs and veneer logs reappears as industrial wood residues and chips, but since this is also allowed for in the conversion factors for calculating raw material input, it is valid to compare the data in Tables 3 and 4. Too much importance should not be attached to the precision of the data in the two tables. The point is that whether the total volume of wood raw material intake by Europe's wood-processing industries is nearer 352 or 361 million m a year, this is a very large amount of wood of which nearly three-quarters is provided by countries' own forests. Taking account of the additional volume from intra-European trade, it means that Europe's forests are supplying roughly 280 million m of wood raw material to the region's wood-processing industries, which incidentally con"rms the "gure of removals in Table 1. This is equivalent to about 1.6 m u.b. of removals per ha (over 2 m o.b./ha of fellings). Converting this into a meaningful value "gure is virtually impossible. Just suppose, however, that the average stumpage price of roundwood in Europe were US$50 and that twothirds of the total area of forest accounted for the bulk of total removals, the result would be a total annual stumpage value of approximately US$14 billion or $120 per ha. These "gures may be quite wide of the mark, but may be adequate to provide a starting point for discussion on the value of wood production to European forest owners.
The structure of Europe's wood-processing industries The European wood-processing sector consists of numerous sawmills, measured in tens of thousands, and a much smaller number, measured in hundreds, of industries producing wood-based panels, woodpulp, paper and paperboard. Unfortunately, recent information at the pan-European level is lacking on the number of mills
The average unit value of industrial roundwood exported by European countries in 1996 was US$ 62.50.
T.J. Peck, A. Ottitsch / Land Use Policy 17 (2000) 209}219
and is incomplete on production capacity of sawmills and some wood-based panels. The number of mills and especially of sawmills has been declining for many years, but this has generally not been accompanied by a fall in capacity, since new mills have tended to be larger and those going out of production smaller than average. This has been particularly noticeable in sawmilling, where a number of very large mills have been built in the last decade or so, while many small, family-owned mills have gone out of production. To illustrate this, the data in Table 5 are for Sweden, one of the most important producer countries in the region (Swedish Forest Industries Federation, 1999). Some of the trends in Sweden may not be typical for Europe as a whole. For example, the number of sawmills did not decline signi"cantly between 1980 and 1998 in the way that they did in many other countries; and the fall in production of wood-based panels was in contrast to the upward trend in most other countries. On the other hand, the consolidation of the
213
wood-processing sector, with fewer mills with larger average capacities, was similar to the general trend in Europe. Not apparent from the table is another trend towards integration, particularly in the woodpulp, paper and paperboard industries, but also between those industries and sawmills. As part of the globalisation process, there was also the merging and acquisition of companies, with an important part of total production being concentrated in the hands of a small number of very large companies. This process was more marked in Sweden and Finland than elsewhere in Europe, but it has been taking place at the international as well as national level. The pattern of production of the wood-processing industries, that is to say the share of the di!erent categories of product in total output, varies from country to country as a result of various conditions, including availability, dimensions and quality of raw material, cost of energy and transport, environmental and other legislation, tari!s, and other factors a!ecting comparative advantage.
Table 5 Number and capacity of wood-processing mills in Sweden in 1980 and 1998
Sawmills (m) Wood-based panels (m) Woodpulp (m.t.) Paper & paperboard (m.t.)
Number of mills (number)
Capacity (1000 units)
Average capacity per mill (units)
1980
1998
1980
1998
1980
1998
2400 32 72 62
2300 13 46 50
10,800 1890 10,500 7200
15,000 992 11,000 10,700
4500 59,100 145,000 115,000
6500 76,300 238,000 215,000
Source: Swedish Forest Industries Federation (1999). Approximate data. Production. Average production per mill.
Table 6 Share of wood-processing industries based on wood raw material input in selected European countries in 1996 (percent of total)
Europe Austria Czech Rep. Finland France Germany Ireland Italy Norway Poland Portugal Romania Spain Sweden Turkey UK
Sawn softwood Sawn hardwood Plywood & veneers
Particle board
Fibreboard
35.6 56.0 55.7 27.1 32.2 47.2 59.1 11.8 31.4 45.2 16.4 31.9 23.4 36.3 35.2 38.0
12.5 10.4 9.9 1.5 13.1 26.9 12.3 30.3 4.4 15.0 7.9 6.8 16.0 1.2 15.9 34.1
3.2 0.9 2.0 0.4 2.7 3.4 26.9 14.1 2.0 7.2 5.6 3.4 6.1 0.6 5.1 8.5
6.5 2.0 6.1 0.2 17.0 4.6 1.7 15.7 0.3 8.5 7.0 29.5 7.3 0.5 29.9 3.0
3.3 1.7 2.7 3.8 4.4 4.1 * 17.5 0.4 1.7 2.0 5.4 5.8 0.4 1.6 0.1
Note: Percentages may not add to exactly 100, due to rounding. Source: UN-ECE/FAO (1998).
Mech. & semi-chem Chemical woodpulp woodpulp (incl. diss.) 9.3 3.7 2.1 18.0 6.6 6.2 * 8.8 31.5 2.6 * 3.1 3.1 11.4 3.2 16.3
29.5 25.3 21.6 48.9 24.0 7.6 * 1.7 30.0 19.9 61.2 19.9 38.4 49.4 9.0 *
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The relative size of industries, in terms of the share of wood raw material input, is shown for selected countries in Table 6. Woodpulp manufacturing is the most important part of the wood-processing sector in terms of raw material input in the three Nordic countries, Finland, Norway and Sweden, as well as Portugal with over 60% of the total. Sawmilling is the most important, with 50% or more, in several central European countries (Austria, Czech Republic, France, Germany, Poland and Romania) as well as Ireland and Turkey. In most countries, production of sawn softwood (coniferous sawnwood) is far more important than that of sawn hardwood (non-coniferous sawnwood), but countries where the latter is signi"cant include France, Italy, Romania and Turkey. In four countries, Germany, Ireland, Italy and the United Kingdom, production of particle board and "breboard, which includes MDF (medium density "breboard) accounts for 30% or more of the total raw material input. In contrast, it accounts for less than 2% in Finland and Sweden. To explain the reasons for the di!erent patterns between countries would require analysis on a country by country basis. To take one simple example: the proportions of 59% of sawn softwood and 39% of particle board and "breboard in Ireland result essentially from the raw material base of mainly Sitka spruce plantations, which is not yet large enough to support a viably sized woodpulp industry.
Relative importance of the wood-processing industries It would be useful for policy-making and other purposes to be able to report that the wood-processing
industries in European countries account for &x' percent of total Gross National Product (GNP) or &y' percent of the total value of manufacturing. Amongst other things it would make it possible to determine whether national policies relating to industrial development, employment, trade and so on were paying not enough or too much attention to the wood-processing sector. Unfortunately, statistical series published at the international level, for example of national accounts, do not provide enough detail to allow the sector to be singled out. Furthermore, it takes time to compile them, so that the information when it becomes available tends to be out of date. Thus the OECD publication of National Accounts (OECD, 1998) shows the forestry and wood-processing sector under three items: (i) forestry and logging; (ii) wood and wood products, including furniture; and (iii) paper and paper products, printing and publishing (Table 6). And the latest available data refer to 1996 or even earlier years. For item (ii) furniture presumably includes all types and not that based principally on wood. For item (iii) printing and publishing are important industries in their own right. Despite these snags, the data in Table 7 showing the share of forestry, wood and paper industries in total GNP are of some indicative interest. The "nal column shows that the share of the wood and paper industries (including furniture, printing and publishing but excluding forestry and logging) in most of the OECD countries providing data was between 2 and 3% of total GNP. It is noticeably higher in Finland (6.1%) and Sweden (4.6%), both countries are major producers and exporters of wood products. Another source (Manfredi, 1997) provides information on the share of forest-based industries as a share of total
Table 7 Share of forestry, wood and paper industries in total Gross National Product (GNP) at current prices (percent of total GNP) Country
Year
Forestry and logging
Wood & wood products, incl. furniture
Paper & paper products, printing & publishing
Total forestry, wood and paper, etc.
Austria Belgium Denmark Finland France Germany Italy Netherlands Norway Portugal Spain Sweden Canada USA Japan New Zealand
1996 1996 1995 1996 1996 1993 1992 1995 1996 1993 1994 1994 1993 1996 1996 1994
* * 0.09 2.11 0.22 0.19 0.05 * 0.25 0.78 * 1.15 0.70 * * 1.51
1.09 * 1.09 1.04 0.62 0.97 1.17 0.46 0.43 0.93 0.63 1.12 1.21 0.84 * 1.38
1.62 1.26 2.12 5.06 1.54 1.25 1.34 2.00 1.83 1.22 1.17 3.45 1.86 2.01 0.72 2.56
* * 3.30 8.21 2.38 2.41 2.56 * 2.51 2.93 * 5.72 3.77 * * 5.45
Source: OECD (1998). Western LaK nder only.
Wood and paper, etc. (excl. forestry)
2.71 * 3.21 6.10 2.16 2.22 2.51 2.46 2.26 2.15 1.80 4.57 3.07 2.85 * 3.94
T.J. Peck, A. Ottitsch / Land Use Policy 17 (2000) 209}219 Table 8 Output of forest-based industries in selected countries as share of total manufacturing output in 1994 (percent of total manufacturing output) Country
Austria Belgium Bulgaria Denmark Finland France Germany Hungary Italy Netherlands Poland Portugal Romania Slovakia Slovenia Sweden Switzerland Turkey
Wood products (excl. furniture)
Furniture
3.2 0.6 1.4 2.0 6.1 1.6 1.2 2.3 1.2 1.0 1.3 4.6 2.1 0.9 3.6 5.3 * 0.9
3.5 3.7 1.1 2.5 1.0 1.3 1.7 * 2.0 0.8 * 1.7 * * 4.6 1.0 * 0.4
Paper and Total paper products 4.5 2.1 1.8 2.7 17.9 2.8 2.4 2.0 2.6 2.9 2.0 3.7 1.2 4.3 7.0 10.2 2.1 0.6
11.2 6.5 4.3 7.2 25.0 5.7 5.3 * 5.8 4.7 * 10.0 * * 15.2 16.5 * 1.9
Source: Manfredi (1997). 1993. 1992.
manufacturing output (Table 8). Furniture is shown separately from wood products, while printing and publishing are not included with paper and paper products. The share of the three groups in aggregate (wood products, furniture, paper and paper products) varies quite widely from country to country, with the range for most being between 4 and 11%, but with Finland, Slovenia and Sweden noticeably higher: 25% in the case of Finland. The same source provides information on the number of employees in the three groups as a share of the total number in manufacturing (Table 9). This shows that the share is mostly between 4 and 12%, but much higher in Finland (20%) and Sweden (14%). The information in Tables 7}9 gives no indication of the long-term trend in the relative importance of the wood-processing industries or in employment by them. Pending further analysis, it may be tentatively assumed that in European as a whole, the pulp and paper and wood-based panels industries have expanded approximately in line with the overall economy, while the sawmilling industry has lagged behind. European production in 1970, 1980, 1990 and 1997 is shown in Table 10. Between 1970 and 1997 output of sawnwood increased by 13% (with actually no increase between 1980 and 1997), of woodpulp by 38%, of wood-based panels by 105% and of paper and paperboard by 115%. The contrast in growth rates between woodpulp and paper and paperboard is explained by the rapid increase in the use of secondary "bres (waste paper) for papermaking, as well
215
Table 9 Number of employees in the forest-based industries as share of all employees in manufacturing in 1994 (percent of all manufacturing employees) Country
Wood products (excl. furniture)
Furniture
Paper and paper products
Total
Austria Belgium Bulgaria Denmark Finland France Germany Hungary Italy Netherlands Poland Portugal Romania Slovakia Slovenia Sweden Switzerland Turkey
2.8 1.8 2.1 2.9 7.0 2.2 1.7 2.0 1.4 1.7 1.4 2.6 2.6 * 4.8 5.2 * 1.4
5.9 2.9 2.2 4.1 2.2 1.9 2.3 * 2.5 1.5 * 0.9 * * * 1.5 * 0.7
3.3 2.5 2.0 2.1 11.3 2.6 2.4 1.5 2.2 3.3 1.4 2.0 1.2 3.1 * 7.2 1.9 2.1
12.0 7.2 6.3 9.1 20.5 6.7 6.4 * 6.1 6.5 * 5.5 * * * 13.9 * 4.2
Source: Manfredi (1997). 1992. 1993.
as increased imports of woodpulp and the fall in output of non-paper-making pulp (dissolving pulp). The sharp decline in sawn hardwood production since 1980 is partly explained by the lower output in two important hardwood countries, Romania and former Yugoslavia, as well as increased imports of sawn hardwood and of added value products from other regions. Notable increases in productivity occurred in all industries and, despite rising production, the numbers employed declined. One example of this trend is Sweden, where the numbers employed in 1980 and 1996 are given in Table 11. There was a fall of 37% over the 16 yr in employment in wood-processing (forest products industry) and an even steeper decline in forestry (silviculture). The table is also interesting in showing that, besides direct employment in the forestry and wood-processing sector, indirect employment in activities connected with the sector is of considerable importance. In the case of Sweden the numbers estimated to be indirectly employed are not very much less than those directly employed. The classi"cation of international industrial statistics does not, unfortunately, allow the relative importance of the wood-processing industries in the overall national economies to be precisely determined. Roughly speaking, these industries account for between 2 and 3% of GNP in many European countries and appreciably more in the major wood products exporting countries. While on the one hand these percentages are in#ated by the inclusion of some related industries, such as furniture and printing
216
T.J. Peck, A. Ottitsch / Land Use Policy 17 (2000) 209}219
Table 10 Output of the wood-processing industries in Europe (excluding Baltic countries), 1970 to 1997 1970
1980 1990 (million units)
1997
Change 1970 to 1997 (%)
Sawnwood (m), of which: Sawn softwood Sawn hardwood
82.5 64.2 18.3
93.5 74.1 19.4
91.5 73.8 17.7
93.0 80.1 12.8
#12.7 #24.8 !29.8
Wood-based panels (m), of which: Veneer sheets Plywood Particle board (incl. OSB) Compressed "breboard (incl. MDF) Non-compressed "breboard
22.4 1.8 4.1 12.3 2.7 1.5
34.3 1.8 3.7 24.3 3.2 1.3
38.2 2.0 3.5 28.4 3.5 0.9
46.0 1.8 3.8 34.0 5.8 0.7
#105.3 #3.9 !7.9 #175.4 #109.9 !55.2
Woodpulp (m.t.), of which: Mechanical Semi-chemical Chemical (paper) Dissolving pulp
27.5 8.4 1.5 16.0 1.6
30.7 9.3 1.6 18.4 1.4
37.3 12.8 1.7 21.8 1.0
38.1 12.6 1.5 23.5 0.4
#38.4 #50.2 #0.3 #47.0 ! 75.1
Paper & paperboard (m.t.), of which: Newsprint Other printing and writing Other paper and paperboard
39.0 5.9 10.4 22.6
50.7 6.5 15.2 29.0
68.3 8.7 23.8 35.8
83.9 10.0 31.7 42.2
#115.2 #69.0 #203.8 #86.4
Notes: (1) Detail may not add to totals due to rounding. (2) Percentage changes 1970 to 1997 based on units to nearest thousand. (3) OSB"Oriented Strand Board; MDF"Medium Density Fibreboard. Source: UN-ECE/FAO database.
Table 11 Employment in the Swedish forest products industry and silviculture in 1980 and 1996 (numbers employed) 1980 Pulp and paper Packaging & other papergoods Sawmilling Joinery & boards
1996
46,000 12,000 23,000 34,000
32,000 11,000 15,000 14,000
Total, forest products industry & Silviculture
115,000 60,000
72,000 26,000
Total forest products industry & silviculture Estimated indirect employment created by the forest products industry
175,000 150,000
98,000 90,000
to national economies, as well as to society in terms of the variety of products that meet its everyday needs and of the employment they provide. At the same time, Europe's wood-processing industries purchase more than ninetenths of the wood harvested annually and depend on the European forest for nearly three-quarters of their wood raw material requirements. Consequently, they are essential partners to forest owners and managers in their e!orts to pursue the sustainable development of the European resource.
Wood processing industries and forest sustainability Wood processing and sustainable timber production
Source: Swedish Forest Industries Federation (1999).
and publishing, on the other hand they do not include ancillary activities. The wood-processing industries' share of manufacturing output in European countries is mostly between 4 and 11% with, again, higher percentages in some major exporting countries. As a generalisation, it may be concluded that, while the wood-processing industries may not be comparable in size to a number of other sectors, such as chemicals, metallurgy or engineering, they are one of a quite large number of industries that are important, even essential,
Following a critical theory approach to land-use allocation, the distribution of land and land use mirrors the distribution of power within the society (Soja, 1989). Liberal general equilibrium theory, projected onto the allocation of land uses, suggests that under ideal market conditions, land may be allocated to the most pro"table land use, meaning the one which is willing to pay most for purchasing or renting the land. Since forestry is, compared to other forms of land use, a rather low interest-rate activity, forests have remained mainly in areas that were so far of little interest to other forms of land use (Hyttinen et al., 1999). Consequently, it may be deduced
T.J. Peck, A. Ottitsch / Land Use Policy 17 (2000) 209}219
that laws aiming at protecting forest resources were established not in the interest of local forest owners or other local stakeholders, since their main interest would have consisted of converting the land to other uses (i.e., primarily agriculture), but rather in the interest of other, more powerful interests within the societies. The concept of forestry as a ®alium', along with mining and other important economic activities, as being a right of the emperor (of the Holy Roman Empire of German Nation), which had been developed in the Medieval Ages in Central Europe, is one of the most prominent examples of this connection of political and economic power with forestry-related activities. Industries based on the supply of wood in large quantities represent such interests. Early steel and mining industries were among the "rst ones to create the need for a more planned approach to logging activities. In many European countries mining and related processing industries were among the main factors in creating a demand for high quantities of timber. Examples for this include Austria, Finland, Norway, Portugal, Spain, Sweden (Hyttinen et al., 1999), even though they di!er to some degree as regards the time when these developments took place. With the increasing availability of coal, the role of wood as industrial fuel decreased in importance from the late 18th century on. However, wood continued to be a valuable resource and new technology allowed also for larger and more e!ective processing of the resources, thus resulting in wood-processing industries becoming a signi"cant economical factor. Raw material needs of these important actors led to an increased level of government regulation, resulting in quite signi"cant restrictions for private owners. The common issues of new forest acts, which had been enacted starting from the second half of the 19th century, were the principles of a primacy of timber production, sustainable raw material production, forestry professionalism and long-term orientation of forest planning. This can be stated for two such distinct examples as the Austrian Forest Act of 1852 as well as for the Forest Act of 1886 for Finland, then a Grand-Duchy of the Russian Empire, both of which have had signi"cant in#uence in their respective national context until today. The United Kingdom is another example for timberneeds being the driving force behind expanding forestry activities. Although some concerns had already arisen during the Napoleonic wars, when supply from Scandinavian countries had been restricted due to the political situation in Europe, major a!orestation e!orts in the UK are usually attributed to the experiences of the First World War, when the threat of German submarines had shown the vulnerability of a high import-dependency during times of crisis. These e!orts were again increased after the Second World War, even though scenarios of world-wide military con#ict changed quite distinctively
217
during the Cold War (Mackay, 1995). Consequently most of the a!orestation done until recently in the UK focused on economically pro"table cultivation of fast-growing conifers, which had to face increasing criticism from environmental concerns. The new UK Forest Strategy on the other hand is giving more focus on environmental and social aspects, following the general change in international forest policies in the 1990s. The connection between forest industries and national timber supply also has been an interesting factor in the allocation of new processing capacities. With processing plants being a potentially vital factor for the economies of remote rural areas, companies have been striving to obtain long-term agreements on supply and price-conditions from local authorities or other forms of public support, such as the development of access-networks or other infrastructure measures. This factor plays a speci"c role in countries with a higher share of public forest, since only direct government control of resources allows for such agreements. The degree to which such practices have resulted in more or less obvious market-distortions has so far not been thoroughly researched in a European context. Thus the hypothesis is formulated here that well-developed wood-processing industries have been a major factor in the development of legislation and other policy instruments for the protection of forest resources in Europe. This argument, admittedly, is not in line with logging activities being seen as one of the major threats to forest resources world-wide, which is widely used by environmental organisations (e.g., Dudley, 1992) but also in scienti"c analysis of the problem of deforestation (e.g., Sunderlin, 1998). However, it is pointed out here that the argument refers to legislation and policies in favour of creating or maintaining sources of timber supply, without necessarily regarding other market and non-market products and services, which have become increasingly an object of interest and attention in the international debate. Another e!ect of the dominance of forest industries in forest policies can be seen in restrictions governing the trade of processed timber products, which in an international context is also seen as a major factor for many developing countries not being able to realise the full value of their forests for their societies (Barbier, 1998). In addition it also seems noteworthy to draw attention to the fact that countries, which could rely on import from overseas, put less emphasis on the goal of developing national raw material supplies. Wood processing and forest ecosystems sustainability Generally regarded as another e!ect of the political success of urban, post-materialist views in politics, speci"cally in the US and Western Europe, the concept of sustainable forestry has been rede"ned in the last decade. While the &old' production function had the primary goal
218
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of sustainable raw-material production, with other products and services as well as environmental and social goals as restrictions, the &new' paradigm now has the sustainable management of forest ecosystems as the main production function, with a variety of products and services, timber production being one among many, resulting from this endeavour. At least this is what o$cial documents and political declarations are stating. While the rise of post-materialist values is one factor in#uencing the forest sector internationally, the sector has also undergone considerable restructuring in the last decades. For one thing, technological changes have resulted in the establishment of newer plants with higher production capacities and simultaneously reduced the number of plants in general. On the other hand, forest industries nowadays are worldwide operations with strong international links concerning ownership and control of production resources. Raw material supply is also increasingly internationalised with big processing industries being able to meet their supply needs from worldwide markets at world-market prices. It is not the intention of this contribution to chime into the chorus of laments on &globalisation', but on the other hand this context should be kept in mind when discussing forest policy issues. Environmental interest organisations have become important actors in forest policy, at global as well as national levels, yet the importance of forest industries also is worth recognising. It is worth drawing attention to the fact that forest industries are both the target but also the partners of choice for environmental concerns related to forestry practices While being powerful institutions, able to in#uence policy decisions with the prospect of employment and income especially to less developed rural regions, forest industries are companies depending on markets and the acceptances of their products by the "nal consumer, which ultimately are also in#uenced by the value preferences of the societies, in which these consumers live. While there exist possibilities to in#uence values and related decisions through means of public relations and advertising, these are not unlimited. In spite of a shift towards more materialistic values following the recession of the early 1990s, environmental values nowadays are so widely accepted, at least within the more a%uent societies, that most industries cannot a!ord to neglect these attitudes. Consequently, wood-processing industries have reacted through seeking dialogue with environmental organisations at national and international levels. Ecocerti"cation is perhaps the most prominent example for this new form of co-operation. In Europe the majority of forest land certi"ed under the FSC-label is listed under the category &industrial' ownership, which as of the time of writing this paper, makes up for around 78% of all FSC-certi"ed forest area in Europe (FSC, 1999).
In the context of forest certi"cation, which is seen as a major tool towards more sustainable forest managemen by leading environmental organisations, it is also interesting to note that the very concept of certi"cation of achieving sustainable forest management by means of labelling timber products bears a striking resemblance to the old ideology of &wake-water theory'. While under the old paradigm it was assumed that overall forest sustainability could be achieved as a by-product of sustainable timber production, now again it is but one output of forest management, namely timber, which is used for sustainability assessment and which basically would also have to cover any additional costs involved, even though the criteria have now changed. Current issues as regards the role of European forests as sources of industrial raw material One of the major features of European forestry, as has already been outlined out in preceding sections of this paper is the increase both in forest area as in growing stock in most European countries. While there exists an increasing trend in forest growth rates (Spiecker et al., 1996), the reasons for which are currently being investigated in a large international research project co-ordinated by the European Forest Institute, the reasons for this quantitative increase of forest resources can more likely be traced to economic and social factors. Agricultural decline can be traced as one major responsible factor. With decreasing revenue from agriculture, a large number of farms have been abandoned, with the land either being consciously a!orested as part of a last low-level activity or just becoming forest again as a result of natural succession. In addition it must not be forgotten that a!orestation programmes, which had been initiated in forest-poor countries, also have "nally shown results. In addition the rather low level of timber prices throughout the last decade has contributed to reduced levels of harvesting, speci"cally among small-scale private land owners, on less-productive sites and for smaller dimension material, such as thinning cuts. On the other hand, wood imports have signi"cantly increased, even to countries with high levels of national resources. While price considerations may be one factor here, sometimes it is also an issue of lack of adequate raw-material supply, partly resulting from past shifts in species composition due to the needs of speci"c segments of forest industries. Forest industries * a decisive factor for sustainable forest management Yet in spite of these increased levels of imports, European forest industries still gain the majority of their supply from sources inside Europe, as has been demonstrated in an earlier section of this paper. Their raw material needs may be expected to be decisive factors in
T.J. Peck, A. Ottitsch / Land Use Policy 17 (2000) 209}219
forest policies in Europe in the future as well. Regardless of the wide variety of other values, which societies are deriving from forestry activities, timber production continues to be the main source of cash income from forest management activities for the majority of European forests. An example of the importance of forest industries in the context of forest sustainability is the fact that major timber-producing countries, speci"cally from those where timber industries are of high national importance, have been at the forefront of implementing the new concept of forest sustainability through the formulation of new forest legislation, national forest programmes or a high level of activity concerning forest certi"cation, especially under the FSC-level, even though here the di!erent interests and possibilities of industries and small scale private land owners become quite apparent. But it is not only in the context of large-scale operations that the importance of processing industries becomes important. Small-scale approaches, linked to local interests have shown signi"cant potential to increase forestry-related income and employment in rural areas of Europe as well as the interest of local forest owners in planned and co-ordinated forest management activities often based on concepts of co-operative management, a context which is also better suited for the implementation of new concepts than extremely desegregated units.
Conclusions This paper has on the one hand tried to demonstrate the dimensions, in absolute as well as in relative terms of the economic importance and relevance of forest industries in Europe. As far as the economic importance of the forest sector is concerned, it could be demonstrated that the major employment e!ects from forest resources, at least based upon currently available methods of assessment, are linked to wood-processing industries. A link was also established between European forest industries and European forest resources, with the former being able to cover the majority of their raw-material needs from the latter. In addition it was then demonstrated how this link has contributed to the protection and further development of forest resources in Europe, at least as far as the quantity of resources and their protection against competing land-uses was concerned. Finally the conclusion is drawn that, while the new de"nition of forest sustainability as the sustainable management of forest ecosystems for the full value to societies can be considered a consider-
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able shift in paradigm towards post-materialist values and concepts, the reality of the importance of forest industries and their needs has remained. The argument is made that it is in fact the forced rational economic approach to decision making, which is linked to the very nature of industrial business activities, that has facilitated the adoption of and adaptation to new developments in societies. At least as far as activities in a European context are concerned, industries have been willing to adapt to such new developments, a fact that has become evident in the new partnerships between environmental NGOs and industries, which might prove a challenge for other actors in the forest policy arena. References Barbier, E.B., 1998. Timber trade and environment. In: Palo, M., Uusivuorio, J. (Eds.), World Forests Society and the Environment. Kluwer Academic Publishers, Dordrecht, 1998, pp. 106}117 Canadian Wood Council, 1999. Consumers: Wood Facts. Homepage www.cwc.ca. 1 p. Dudley, N., 1992. Forests in trouble * a review of the status of temperate forests worldwide; world wide fund for nature. Gland. FSC 1999 FSC-Webpages, FSC, 1999, http://www.fscoax.org/html/5-33.html Hyttinen, P., Ottitsch, A., Pelli, P., Niskanen, A., 1999. Forest related resources, industries, services and know-how in border regions of the European Union. EFI-Working Paper Nr. 21, European Forest Institute, 1999. Mackay, D., 1995. Scotland's Rural Land use Agencies * The History and E!ectiveness in Scotland of the Forestry Commission Nature Conservancy Council and Countryside Commission for Scotland. Scottish Cultural Press. Aberdeen, 1995 Manfredi, C., 1997. Contribution of forest industries to national economies in Europe. In: International Labour O$ce Geneva (Ed.), People, Forests and Sustainability: Social Elements of Sustainable Forest Management in Europe. ILO, Geneva, SAP 2.63/WP.113, pp. 193}203. OECD, 1998. National Accounts, Vol. II. Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, Paris. Soja, E.W., 1989. Postmodern Geographies * The Reassertion of Space in Critical Social Theory. Verso. London, New York. Spiecker, H., MielikaK inen, K., KoK hl, M., Skovsgaard, J.P. (Eds.), 1996. Growth Trends in European Forests - Studies from 12 Countries. Springer, Heidelberg. Sunderlin, W.D., 1998. Development of the forest sector in Indonesia. In: Palo, M., Uusivuorio, J. (Eds.), World Forests Society and the Environment. Kluwer Academic Publishers, Dordrecht, 1998, p. 214}221. Swedish Forest Industries Federation, 1999. The Swedish Forest Industries: Facts and Figures 1998. The Swedish Forest Industries Federation, Stockholm, pp. 19. UN-ECE/FAO, 2000. Forest Resources of Europe, CIS, North America, Australia, Japan and New Zealand: UN-ECE/FAO Contribution to the Global Forest Resources Assessment 2000: Main Report. United Nations, New York and Geneva.