By Samantha Broadmeadow and Tom Nisbet.
Research report to Forestry Commission England, March 2009.
Forest Research Monograph: 1ISBN 978-0-85538-822-5
Related pages
Forest hydrology
Soil sustainability
Mills in Scotland consumed around one half (51%) of the 6.3 million green tonnes of softwood delivered to UK sawmills in 2015 (Table 2.12). A further 30% was consumed by mills in England, 10% in Wales and 8% in Northern Ireland.
Table 2.12 Consumption of softwood by country, 2006-2015
Year
England
Wales
Scotland
Northern
Ireland
UK
thousand green tonnes
2006
1 603
757
2 430
686
5 476
2007
1 674
759
2 […]
Despite accounting for only 27% of all sawmills (see Table 2.8), those with total annual sawnwood production of 10 thousand cubic metres or more accounted for 94% of the total softwood consumed by sawmills in 2015 (Table 2.11).
Table 2.11 Consumption of softwood by size of mill, 2006-2015
Year
Size of mill (total production)1
Total
< 1
1 – […]
UK sawmills produced a total of 3.6 million cubic metres of sawn softwood in 2016, a 5% increase from the 2015 figure (Table 2.13).
Sawmills with total annual sawnwood production of 25 thousand cubic metres or more accounted for 85% of the total sawn softwood produced by sawmills in 2016.
YearSize of mill (total production)1Total
<1
1 – <5
5 […]
A total of 164 sawmills processed UK roundwood in 2017 (Table 2.8). Most mills (84%) produced less than 25 thousand m3 sawnwood (softwood and hardwood) during the year.
Over the past ten years, the number of active sawmills has reduced by 17%. Most of this decrease has occurred in the smallest size categories.
Table 2.8 Number of sawmills by size […]
It is estimated that 70% of all softwood removals from private sector woodlands were harvested in Scotland, 18% in England, 11% in Wales and the remainder in Northern Ireland in 2015 (Table 2.2).
Over the past ten years, Wales and England have shown the biggest percentage increase, with private sector removals in 2015 around double the […]
A total of 328 thousand green tonnes of softwood (UK grown and imported) was purchased by softwood fencing manufacturers in 2015 (Table 2.26). This represents a decrease of 2% from the 2014 total of 336 thousand green tonnes.
Table 2.26 Total roundwood purchased by softwood round fencing manufacturers, 2006-2015
Year
Size category (consumption)1
Total
< 1
1 – […]
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