Current issue: 58(5)
Silva Fennica Issue 64 includes presentations held in 1947 in the third professional development courses, arranged for foresters working in the public administration. The presentations focus on practical issues in forest management and administration, especially in regional level. The education was arranged by Forest Service. Two of the presentations were published in other publications than Silva Fennica.
This presentation describes budgeting of costs of delivery loggings, which have been at times underestimated in the practical forestry in the state forests.
Seasonal variation in the sawmill industry of Finland was studied in an investigation based on questionnaires answered by a random sample of sawmills concerning the time period of 1958-1960. The method is described in detail in a separate article in Acta Forestalia Fennica issue 75 no. 1.
The seasonal variations in purchase of roundwood was largest in big sawmills, which purchase the main part of the timber as standing sales and buy most of the wood from the State Forest auctions at the end of September. Also, they can afford to reserve their material earlier than the smaller companies. The saw logs are mainly felled in the winter in Finland because the climatic conditions and availability of labour are best at that time. Small sawmills begin fellings a little earlier than the larger ones.
In long-transport of timber the proportion of floating decreased from 47% in 1958 to 38% in 1960. At the same time, proportion of truck transport increased from 48% to 55%. Small sawmills use almost exclusively land transport. They received almost three-fourths of their logs between January and May, because the sawing is concentrated in the first half of the year. Therefore, floating does not suit for their transport method. The larger the sawmill, the later is the seasonal peak of log deliveries. The output of the big sawmills is distributed more evenly thoughout the year. The smaller the sawmill, the quicker is the turnover of raw material and the smaller the sawlog inventories.
The seasonal variation in output is sharper at small sawmills where sawing is concentrated in the first half of the year. The seasonal peak of the early spring is due to the aim at getting the sawn wood to dry early enough for shipments in the summer. Air drying takes an average of 4 ½ months. Kiln drying is more common at the larger sawmills, and gives them more flexibility. Due to the large seasonal variation in operation, the capacity of the small mills is poorly utilized. Domestic sales of sawn wood levels up the seasonality of the deliveries. Export sales are concentrated at the end and turn of the year. Also, the seasonal peak of expenditure occurs in the winter, but that of income in the summer.
The PDF includes a summary in English.
In Finland roundwood is floated either privately or co-operatively. In the later, a co-operative floating association is established to operate floating. The association is compulsory association of those enterprises who want to have wood floated along the floating routes of the area. It is favoured when the number of enterprises and the wood to be floated is large. In addition, costs are lower than in private floating.
Floating in Lake Saimaa area in Central Finland can be divided into Iso-Saimaa, where floating is private, and into Saimaa Water System, where floating is operated by a co-operative floating association. It has been suggested that adoption of co-operative floating in Iso-Saimaa would be to the common interest. This study aimed at finding out if co-operative floating influences the transport costs, and if co-operative floating increases competition of roundwood by forest industry companies.
According to the study, the costs of most enterprises would decrease. The total decrease in costs would amount to 65 million Finnish marks annually, about 20% less than the present costs. The change of organization would not alter the competitive relationship in buying roundwood. On the other hand, it would seem that co-operative floating would be less flexible than private floating. The management of a large organization, whose effective operation time would cover only a part of the year, would meet with some difficulties. Also, co-operative floating would reduce competition among enterprises.
The PDF includes a summary in English.
This paper aims at investigating which factors, in the point of view of the entrepreneur, define the choice of long-distance transport either as floating in bundles, steamship transport or barge transport in the waterway system of Lake Saimaa in 1950s. It defines the usage, kind of fleet, operation and costs of the abovesaid modes of transport. The investigation is mainly based on statistics of Enso-Gutzeit Oyj and the fuel office of the Finnish State Railways.
Location of the industrial enterprise sets the limits for use of the different modes of transport of roundwood. Previous decisions can influence the future choices, for instance, the capital the company has earler invested on the transportation system. Also, the type and amount of timber acquired by the company, transportation distance, time, and means of transport affect the choice of mode of transport. Those factors that direct decision-making, often lead the entrepreneur to stick to the chosen mode of transport.
Floating becomes the more inexpensive the larger the scale of operation is, and if the timber assortment is suitable for floating and water storage. For instance, dry wood is an asset for a wood export agency, and their sales have often time pressures, which rules floating out of their choices. Transportation in vessels has decreased to 4% of all roundwood haulage, but has its function as a supplementary way of transport.
The PDF includes a summary in German.
In the present investigation, the problems connected to demand of firewood are dealt with by studying the fuel markets of the three biggest towns in Finland – Helsinki, Turku and Tampere as well as those of Vaasa. The purpose of the investigation was to study the firewood supply areas in two time periods, in 1933-1939 and in 1945-1947, after the Second World War.
Railway and shipping were the most important ways for transporting firewood in 1933-1939. Towards the end of the period, road transport increased especially in Turku and in Vaasa. In 1945-47 almost 90% of the firewood transported to Helsinki, 60% to Tampere and Turku, and over 50% of the firewood transpors to Vaasa were carried by rail. One factor supporting rail transport was that the tariff policy of the State Railways gave preference to firewood transports.
The supply areas increased markedly from 1933-1939 to 1945-1947. Supply of firewood near the towns in the southern, southwestern and western parts of the country was small. Also, pulp industry began to use small-sized timber in 1930s, which increased competition of the wood. Coal and coke began to replace firewood in the 30s, but their use decreased during and after the war due to supply shortage.
The PDF includes a summary in English.
The principal method of transporting timber for long distances in Finland is floating. It is supplemented in the principal forest districts by transport in ships, by rail and lorries. However, in north-eastern and northern parts of the country the main water systems flow into Arctic Ocean, and floating cannot be used to transport timber. The area does not have railroad and road network is sparse. The poor accessibility has hindered the use of forest in the area. A division of the Tuntsa-Oulanka and Arctic Ocean water system area into supply areas is presented.
The PDF includes a summary in English.
The numerous waterways have promoted the development of forest industry in Finland by offering an easy way to transport timber almost in the whole country. Floating associations arrange the floating for its members. This study, accomplished in the Forest Research Institute, compiles the statistics of the different associations in 1922‒1927. The volume of timber transported by the floating associations increased by 40% during the 6-year period, reaching 10.5 million m3 in 1927. The increase has been supported by the number of collectively used floating channels. The number of the floating associations increase from 17 to 26 and the length of the floating channels used by them to 8,300 km in 1922‒1927. About 70‒80% of the transported timber was logs and the 20‒30% small timber. Floated timber comprised 70-80% of the all roundwood used in the forest industry in Finland at the time. Majority of the logs were softwood.
The PDF includes a summary in German.