Forestry technology exhibits more international and diverse than ever before

LIGNA 2015, which runs from 11 to 15 May, will feature a forestry and forestry technology program that is more diverse and international than ever before. Among much else, the fair will showcase all key timber harvesting and wood-based energy technologies. This year’s fair also stands out in terms of the many companies that will be exhibiting for the first time. These include Zeppelin Baumaschinen GmbH, Grube KG Forstgerätestelle, HolzWert GmbH & Co. KG and Hase Safety Workwear GmbH from Germany, Norwood Industries Inc. from Canada, Peterson Pacific Corp. from the USA, Smartec S.r.l. from Italy, Pilous-Pásové Pily from the Czech Republic, FOREST TRACT S.A.R.L. from France and P.P.H.U. Tex-Star from Poland.

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On the visitor side, the organizers are expecting professionals and decision-makers from the forestry, sawmilling and panel-products industries as well as representatives of vertically integrated companies from the pulp and paper industries. And given LIGNA’s status as the world’s number one information source on the latest forestry and wood processing technology, the visitors will be coming from all around the world.

The Wood Industry Summit, LIGNA’s brand-new dialogue and matchmaking platform in Hall 13, will likewise be a highly international affair. The Summit’s combined dialogue and presentation format is designed to facilitate access to emerging markets for providers of forestry and primary wood processing technologies.

Deutsche Messe has secured exhibitor registrations for the Wood Industry Summit from some of the world’s leading providers of large-scale forestry machinery – names like JOHN DEERE Forestry from the USA, PONSSE Plc from Finland and HSM (Hohenloher Spezial-Maschinenbau GmbH & Co. KG) from Germany. As a result, this year will in fact be the very first time that LIGNA’s displays of large-scale forestry machinery have extended beyond the open-air site and into the adjacent Hall 13. The Summit is organized by Deutsche Messe in association with the German Forestry Council (KWF), a long-standing and trusted partner that organized a highly successful international matchmaking event at the last LIGNA show in 2013.

The inaugural Wood Industry Summit will be officially opened on Monday, 11 May, the first day of LIGNA, at 11 a.m. This will be followed, in the afternoon, by the Summit’s first event – a presentation on the potential of hardwoods in Germany’s forestry industry. Germany’s third nationwide forest inventory (BWI3) points to a rise in the proportion of hardwood forest and standing hardwood timber stocks. Against this background, the Wood Industry Summit presentation will analyze current and future hardwood timber volumes in Germany and make suggestions on ways of boosting the innovative and competitive potential of companies in the hardwood segment of the German forestry industry. It will also put the spotlight on current and future markets for hardwood products and new product development methods.

The morning session of each of the next four days will focus on a different country or region, namely Eastern Europe, Brazil, China and Russia. In each case, the speakers will discuss local requirements and challenges and explore topical issues, such as “Modern wood industry logistics in Brazil” and “Boosting China’s timber and wood fuel supply via agroforestry and short-rotation coppice plantations.” In the afternoons, the participating companies will present their solutions in 20-minute sessions, followed by direct dialogue with attendees. A number of delegations and representatives from business, politics and science from the four target regions – Eastern Europe, Brazil, China and Russia – are expected for the matchmaking event.