“Demand is strong. There is a lot of construction going on throughout Sweden and CLT meets the need for efficient industrial construction with the lowest possible climate impact,” said CEO Lars Martinson.

CLT consists of solid panels of planed spruce that are glued together, with every other layer being cross laid. It is often used in walls, floors and ceilings. Martinsons has so far manufactured panels with a width of 1.2m, but with the new line in Bygdsiljum will also be able to offer storey-high panels, with a width of 3m.

“We have been manufacturing CLT since 2003 and know the product inside and out, so we feel confident about this launch. We will implement a controlled start-up and then gradually increase production,” said Olov Martinson, production manager at Martinsons.

Cross-laminated timber has long been established as a building material in Central Europe, but has been less commonly used in Sweden. Use has increased sharply over the past year, not least because it meets the growing need for time-efficient and simple building processes.