Mellanskog has a total of 28,700 members from Gotland in the south to Härjedalen in the north. Many of them are in the areas that were hit hard by storm Johannes in recent days.
Even though it has now been almost two weeks since Johannes devastated forests in southern Hälsingland, eastern Dalarna and large parts of Gästrikland, the extent of the damage is not yet clear.
Can be saved
Up to one meter of snow has also fallen after the storm over the affected areas, making damage assessment virtually impossible.
There are an incredible number of trees across the roads, which are now also covered in snow. So it is both difficult to get out on the forest roads and difficult to see from the air, says Fredrik Munter, CEO of Mellanskog.
However, it is known that several million cubic meters of forest have been blown down and that values worth several billion kronor are at stake.
"That doesn't mean that all is lost; we can save some. But it all depends on how the processing goes," says Munter.
As long as it's winter and cold, there's no great rush to get the trees out of the forest. But when spring and summer come, the quality of the timber, which has the highest value, deteriorates.
Pressing the price
It is also advantageous to start removing fallen trees from the forest as soon as possible to avoid overloading local timber industries.
"If we cannot start as early as we would like, the industry will probably not be able to handle these large volumes," says Fredrik Munter.
The many trees felled by storms can also mean that forest owners receive less money for their timber.
"During the period from April to June, a lot of wood will go out, and it is clear that during that time there will be downward pressure on wood prices," says Fredrik Munter.
The Swedish Forest Agency, which has collected information about the storm damage in collaboration with forestry companies, forest owners' associations and private forest owners, will hold a meeting on Thursday and hopes to present an overall assessment of the extent of the damage, according to the agency's press service.
