Pine gains ground in Swedish construction as spruce supply tightens

Pine is moving further into Sweden’s structural timber market as sawmills and builders respond to a changing raw material balance that is making spruce less dominant than it once was. For decades, spruce has been the standard choice for structural timber in Sweden. But producers increasingly argue that the preference has been driven more by tradition than by technical necessity, particularly as pine availability rises and spruce supply becomes more constrained. Norra Timber says the key factor in structural applications is the strength class rather than the tree species itself. “It is the strength class that ...