This is Sveaskog

Sveaskog, a state-owned company, is the largest forest owner in Sweden. The company owns 14 per cent of Sweden’s forests and has approx. 800 employees across the country.

Sveaskog’s core business consists of cultivating forests, as well as supplying timber, pulpwood, wood chips, biofuels, seedlings and forestry services. Sveaskog rounds out supplies from its own forests through purchases from other forest owners, barter deals and imports. Our customers operate mainly in the Swedish forest industry, which exports all over the world. In addition, Sveaskog deals in the land and wind power sectors and develops the forest as a place for fishing, hunting and other country activities.

Sveaskog strives to lead the way in developing sustainable forestry. This includes ensuring sustainability in renewable raw material supplies to our customers, as well as helping to deliver on the goals of the 2030 Agenda, and on national environmental and climate goals. Sveaskog manages its forests with the ambition of developing higher economic, ecological and social values. Our forests are certified to both FSC® and PEFC standards, and we require FSC® controlled wood and chain of custody for all timber we buy from other forest owners. This means that Sveaskog can assure that all our timber supplies are responsibly produced.

Sveaskog’s logo licence number is FSC-C008344.

Facts about Sveaskog

Chair of the Board of Directors: Kerstin Lindberg Göransson
President and CEO: Erik Brandsma
Owner: The Swedish State through the Government Offices of Sweden
Corporate registration number, Sveaskog AB (publ): 556558-0031
Sales: 6,920 MSEK (2020: 6,597 MSEK)
Operating income: 1,341 MSEK (2020: 1,120 MSEK)
Profit for the year after tax: 1,494 MSEK (2020: 10,867 MSEK)
Average number of employees: 825
Subsidiary: Sveaskog Baltfor SIA
Associated company: Setra Group AB
Forest holdings: Approximately 3.90 million hectares, of which 3.04 million hectares are productive forest land
Sales of forest raw materials (volume): Approximately 10.6 million m3sub (solid under bark), including about 6.3 million m3sub from own forest.

Questions and answers about Sveaskog

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Sveaskog is a State-owned commercially operating public limited company. It is Sweden’s largest forestry company.

Sveaskog was established in 1999 to operate in the area of forest management and production. Sveaskog grew out of Assi Domän (a merger between Domänverket and Assi, (Aktiebolaget statens sågverksindustrier)), which, in addition to management and forest production, was also engaged in industrial activities.

We have a total of 3.9 million hectares of land, representing about ten percent of the total area of Sweden.

Sveaskog owns land across the whole of Sweden, except on the island of Gotland. The largest concentrations are in the counties of Norrbotten, Västerbotten, Gävleborg, Västmanland and Örebro, as well as in the three counties of Småland. Interestingly, we own more land in the counties of Stockholm and Skåne than in the predominantly forested Värmland.

No, as well as being Sweden’s largest forest owner, we are also Sweden’s single largest water owner. A quarter – one million hectares – of Sveaskog’s total land holdings is made up of bare mountains, bogs, water courses, lakes, rocky ground, marshy forests and other areas unsuitable for forestry.

Approximately three million hectares, representing 14 percent of the total area of productive forest in Sweden.

*Land with a forest growth rate higher than 1 cubic metre (standing volume) per hectare per year and considered suitable, and mainly used, for timber production.

No, we have set aside about 450,000 hectares of productive land, above all old-growth forests (15 percent of productive land), as ecoparks and conservation forests. In addition, we often also leave a lot of large areas after felling, such as edge zones, large tree groups and substrates. Taken over the whole of our land holdings, we use roughly 57 percent.

No, we sell (forest) properties and hunting and fishing licences, and we also issue hunting leases and other types of licences for land use.

Ultimately, the conditions under which Sveaskog operates are laid down by Sweden’s Riksdag (parliament) and government. The government supervises ownership via the Ministry of Enterprise and Innovation, which appoints the Board of Directors. Sveaskog’s operations are governed by the provisions of Parliamentary Bill 2009/10:169. Day-to-day management of the company is in the final analysis performed by Group Management, led by the President and CEO.

Sveaskog is a profit driven State-owned company, with part of its mission being to generate profit for the company’s owner, the Swedish State (see fact box).

Part is reinvested in the company and part is paid out to the owner, the Swedish State (see fact box).