Our portfolio

Our wood products are made of renewable material, thus contributing to the transition to a sustainable society.

Our opportunities and challenges

As a manufacturer of renewable products for the construction and wood industry, we and our customers are participating actively in the climate transition of the construction sector. Increasing the use of wood as a construction material is one of Setra’s core aims, given that wood is not only a renewable raw material, but also binds carbon dioxide throughout its life cycle. The challenge facing us is to deliver competitive products and solutions that make it simple to choose wood rather than other materials such as steel and concrete, which leave a deeper climate footprint.

How we work

A broad product range

Setra’s product range encompasses everything from sawn wood products and planed construction timber to highly processed products such as door and window components and complete building solutions. Our range also includes bioproducts such as bark, sawdust and woodchips.

Wood is the only renewable construction material and demand for processed wood products for construction is on the rise. We manufacture climate-smart and highly processed wood products for the construction industry in Sweden and around the world. Our products are used for building and construction, as well as in the paper and energy industries and as a raw material for biofuel.

Our strategy is to gradually increase the share of processed wood products over the coming years. In 2020, the first construction element in CLT left our Långshyttan factory for installation in new, climate-smart apartment blocks.

The first deliveries of planed construction timber were also shipped from our newly started trimming and planing line in Hasselfors. In Gävle, we will start working with Preem on the production of bio-oil from sawdust in 2021, thus contributing to the development of new renewable fuel.

Where Setra’s products go

(percentage of sales)

15%

Bioproducts

10%

Processed wood products

75%

Sawn wood products

Sawn wood products

Sawn pine and spruce products are important export goods, accounting for the majority of Setra’s sales. Planks and boards from our sawmills form part of everything from furniture to furnishings and packaging, while strength-graded construction timber is used in construction projects all over the world.

Our biggest markets are Sweden, Europe, North Africa, the Middle East and Asia. Our customers are primarily to be found in the wood processing industry: planing mills, CLT manufacturers, house builders and packaging producers, for example. Pine is easy to process and is often used for products where the wood is to remain visible, such as floors, furniture and doors, as well as for pressure-impregnated products such as decking. Spruce is the most commonly used wood in building and construction projects on account of its impressive durability. It is used in glulam and CLT, for example.

Processed wood products.

We have expanded our range of processed products over the course of 2020, and it now includes construction solutions in CLT and glulam, planed construction timber, decking, joists and components for doors and windows.

Setra supplies a complete solution in CLT and glulam for construction projects, where a project team accompanies the customer through all phases of the process. The solid, cross-laminated timber panels in planed wood are industrially manufactured with great precision and adapted at the factory to facilitate assembly at the construction site. Cross-laminated timber is a rigid material with a high load-bearing capacity, which makes it particularly well-suited to large constructions such as apartment blocks, office buildings and schools. The construction solutions are principally marketed to construction companies and building pre-fabricators in Sweden and the rest of Scandinavia. In addition to the frame material, Setra provides technical expertise and guidance in the areas of project planning, construction solutions, logistics and transport.

Setra sells glulam products as a standard range via builders’ merchants and as bespoke solutions sold directly to building developers, wood industries and builders' merchants, primarily in Sweden and the rest of Scandinavia. Setra also sells “standardised halls” in glulam for industrial, warehouse and agricultural applications, and in

430,000 m3

The volume of processed wood products Setra will be able to manufacture annually once all new investments have achieved full production. The calculation includes 200,000 m3 of planed construction timber and 100,000 m3 of CLT.

1,575 GWh

The volume of bioenergy supplied by Setra in 2020. This is sufficient to heat approx. 240,000 apartments.

Our business concept

The future is built on wood. With a raw material that originates from responsibly managed forests, we create refined climate-smart products and solutions for construction, housing, pulp and paper manufacture and energy production. We thereby help our customers do better business in a global marketplace and are part of the solution in the transition to a bioeconomy. 2020 we also developed a concept for glulam padel halls. Glulam posts and beams also form part of most CLT projects. The Setra glulam factory in Långshyttan has long been working to streamline production and can now supply customers with made-to-measure glulam products within six working days from the date of order.

In 2020, Setra’s construction timber range was expanded to include planed products, such as roof truss timber and joists in a variety of dimensions. The spruce is planed in Hasselfors and supplements our range of sawn construction timber products. The timber is machine sorted and graded using the strength standards applicable for load-bearing structures in Europe, the United States and Australia. The intention is to sell these products to builders’ merchants, wood product manufacturers and major construction projects.

Where Setra’s bioproducts go

(percentage of sales)

31%

Heating and power plants

8%

Pelletindustry

<1%

Other

60% Pulp and paper mills

Bioproducts

Making use of the whole log, utilising it as effectively as possible, is a key issue for Setra. Around 50 percent of each sawlog is turned into planks and boards, while the remainder becomes bioproducts in the form of bark, woodchips and sawdust. The bioproducts are sold as cellulose woodchips, biofuel and animal bedding. The customers are primarily paper and pulp plants and energy generators.

The transition to a bioeconomy, where we make use of renewable resources from forests, for example, rather than using fossil fuels and materials, gives grounds to expect that bioproducts will become a growing market. Setra’s investment in extracting bio-oil from sawdust is one example of the many new applications for the bioproducts. The company Pyrocell, owned jointly and equally by Setra and Preem, is building a factory for the production of pyrolysis oil close to Setra’s sawmill in Gävle. Once Preem has refined the oil, it will be used to replace a part of the fossil component in standard petrol and diesel.

Customer surveys

Helping our customers to do better business is a part of Setra’s business concept and our vision for Grönsamhet. We strive to maintain high levels of service expertise, and in order to find out what customers think we conduct qualitative customer surveys. The most recent surveys involved European customers in 2018 and Swedish customers in 2017. In both cases, Setra achieved a net promoter score of +67. This is a measurement of how inclined customers are to recommend us, and the value ranges from -100 to +100. Starting in 2021, we are planning to carry out a new, annual qualitative survey to measure customer satisfaction in all major customer groups and markets.

The start of wood construction on a larger scale

In 2020, Setra commenced production of Cross-Laminated Timber, CLT. Our Långshyttan factory manufactures the largest CLT elements on the market. It is a climate-smart construction alternative to steel and concrete. The first deliveries are being made to the Cederhusen project in Hagastaden, Stockholm, where one of the largest timber-based inner city districts is now taking shape.

Why is Cederhusen a key project in the field of industrial wood construction?

Every link of the supply chain in this project has high ambitions for reducing the climate impact. Architects and construction companies are focusing on frames made of CLT, which means they will be using a renewable material that binds carbon dioxide. At the same time, they can work with an efficient process involving bespoke deliveries that come directly from Setra, along with quick and easy assembly. The construction of the Cederhusen buildings has attracted attention from the very start, and the project has considerable symbolic value.

How does Setra ensure that sustainability considerations are included in the actual production of CLT?

All our raw materials are controlled and traceable. We also supply FSC- and PEFC-certified products. Another example is our flexible production process. Rather than working with set dimensions, we manufacture precisely the sizes the customer needs. This helps minimise material waste in every link of the chain. A third example is how we are constantly working to cut our energy consumption and improve the efficiency of our transports.

Why is there so much interest in CLT?

Interest really picked up a few years ago and is now extremely high, both in Sweden and abroad. In Sweden, 20 percent of new multi-family residences are now built of wood. The goal – both for Setra and from the world of politics – is to have increased this figure to 50 percent by 2025.

What is Setra doing to promote this development?

We are investing in production capacity and helping to improve access to the products. We are highlighting good examples, building up knowledge and working with a range of stakeholders – from clients and consultants to different sector representatives. In addition, Setra has set up its own project office where we provide advice and analyses for builders who are new to building with wood.

Anna-Lena Gull, Senior Sales Specialist, CLT