Oleg Fokin, Commercial Director of Sudoma Sawmill: “At the moment, Russia does not have enough own production facilities for processing low-grade timber in full”

Sudoma Sawmill is an export-oriented enterprise engaged in the production of thermally modified, impregnated, planed, and brushed sawn timber for the construction and furniture industries. The enterprise is located in Dedovichsky district of the Pskov region; one of the main activities of the sawmill is the manufacture of products from birch wood. 

WhatWood Agency talked to Oleg Fokin, commercial director of Sudoma Sawmill, to understand who the major consumers of thermally modified sawn timber are, what are the prospects for the production of RUF briquettes, whether the enterprise manages to provide itself with raw materials, what the reasons were for the global rise in prices for sawn timber, what the consequences of the ban on the export of unprocessed timber from Russia can be, what measures of state support are needed for the development of timber processing businesses, and much more.  

– Mr. Fokin, thank you for agreeing to answer our questions. Sudoma Sawmill bills itself as the largest producer of thermally modified sawn timber in Russia and Eastern Europe. Tell us more about your products. What are the process peculiarities in the production of such sawn timber?

– Thermally modified wood (TMW) is a modern premium-level building material valued for its environmental friendliness, durability, enhanced thermal insulation properties and fire resistance, as well as resistance to moisture, fungi, rot, and insect pests. TMW products feature enhanced geometric stability and high aesthetic properties. They have a wide range of applications: exterior finishes of country houses and buildings; interior decor of walls; wall and ceiling cladding; flooring in baths, saunas, swimming pools; furniture and products for rooms with high humidity; yacht finishes; garden and landscape structures, etc. The materials can be used both as flooring for outdoor spaces and as parquet in indoor rooms.

Different species of wood are used for the production of heat-treated materials: birch, aspen, pine, and spruce. Materials made from thermally modified birch timber are mostly chosen as finishes of habitable rooms and saunas, while pine and spruce are more often used for exterior cladding of facades, hardscaping, and garden furniture. At Sudoma, heat treatment is performed using the equipment of Métallerie du Sud Lorrain MSL, a French manufacturer. Wood components are transformed in the heat treatment chambers (we have three of them): hemicellulose breaks up and lignin melts there. The timber is heated to 230 °C under vacuum. The range of our finished products comprises thermally modified boards, planks with rounded edges, tongue and groove wall panels, decking. We also produce brushed thermally modified materials from softwood and birch timber.

– Who are the major consumers of thermally modified sawn timber? How did you form your sales and marketing strategy for promoting this product?

– It has long been a well-known and much-in-demand building material in Western Europe, so Sudoma entered a mature market. Our clients are construction companies operating in the field of wooden housing and finishing of premium-segment real estate projects, landscape and interior designers. We see good prospects for the development in a number of foreign markets: in Germany, Benelux countries, France. Our competitors are companies from Finland hosting the concentration of major production facilities for thermally modified materials, as well as from Baltic countries. Our own source of raw materials and use of foreign-made equipment allow us to offer wholesale supplies of thermally modified sawn timber of quite a high quality while at very attractive prices.

Read the full interview in Russian Timber Journal 03-2021.