Sweden is home to an increasing number of CLT factories. Earlier this year, Södra opened a factory in Värö, next year Setra will be doing the same in Långshyttan and Stora Enso recently launched its production in Gruvön. Since only 10 percent of apartment blocks in Sweden are currently built in wood, the industry sees its future competition coming not from each other but from suppliers of other materials.
Gruvön has the capacity to produce 100,000 cubic metres of CLT per year – enough material to build around 4,500 apartments. The sawmill itself is naturally made of CLT, with 4, 600 cubic metres required to complete the 13,000 square-meter building. The elements were prefabricated at one of Stora Enso’s sawmills in Austria and arrived by train. The construction time on site was a mere ten weeks.
Stora Enso is investing about half a billion Swedish kronor in the CLT plant, which also has the facility to finish the various elements using CNC technology. The products will mainly be sold in the Nordic countries and exported to the UK.
Read more at storaenso.com
