Ireland’s on-going afforestation programme which began in the early 1920s has today resulted in a national forest estate of some 750,000ha. This natural resource is now providing a sustainable supply of roundwood timber which is being converted into wood-based products for use at home and also for export.
As the forests mature there is an increasing supply of roundwood timber becoming available for harvest. In 2011, timber production amounted to 2.7 million cubic metres (tonnes) but this is forecast to increase to some 6.5 million cubic metres by 2028.
The timber produced from Irish forests is converted into wood products by a modern and efficient processing sector comprising sawmills and panel board mills. These wood industries process all the logs available in Ireland and export over 70% of the end product. All mills have internationally recognised chain of custody certification.
Timber is also being increasingly used for wood energy and this is due to expand significantly in the future as the country moves towards meeting its renewable energy targets from biomass by 2020.
Sawmills
The Irish sawmilling industry is modern, efficient and customer focused. Through innovation and marketing, along with high levels of customer care and responsiveness to end user demands; the Irish sawmilling sector is securing increased export market share, particularly in the […]
Read More
Panel-product Mills
There are three mills operating in the Republic of Ireland that manufacture panel-board from home grown wood fibre. The raw material used consists of pulp wood, sawmill residues (i.e. sawdust, woodchip and bark) and post consumer recovered wood (i.e. recycled […]
Read More
Wood Energy
Wood has been used by man as an energy source since the earliest times. The wood and charcoal that were once used extensively as fuel for cooking and heating have today largely been replaced by the more convenient energy sources […]
Read More
Wood Promotion and Education
The Wood Marketing Federation (WMF) was founded in 1989 to “promote wood as a renewable, sustainable and versatile natural material”. Membership includes sawmills, panel board mills, timber treatment companies, marketing organisations such as Wood-NI and State companies and agencies involved in […]
Read More
