Stand, stem and log segregation based on wood properties: a review

Abstract

There are many log and wood properties of interest to wood processors. There is also high variability in important attributes between and within growing regions and between and within individual stems which influence financial returns to wood processors. This review summarises recent studies of segregation technologies and techniques which have shown that:

• regional or stand level attribute models will facilitate a coarse level of segregation but not account well for the between and within stem variation;

• many tools and techniques are available for segregating wood based on internal properties but few have been implemented commercially. Some are better suited for application in mills than in forests;

• the benefits of segregating stands, stems and logs based on wood properties are not clear due to high variability in wood properties, poor market signals (in terms of price) for wood with superior properties, and poor understanding of the costs across the value chain; and

• most of the existing economic models tend to look at the economics of segregation from the perspective of a single participant in the value chain, e.g. a structural mill or a central processing yard. Only a few models look across the value chain and these have limitations often poorly representing some participants in the value chain.

KEYWORDS:

• Log sorting
• wood properties
• measurement tools
• costs
• supply chain

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Funding

Funding for this project came from a research grant by the New Zealand Ministry for Business, Innovation and Employment. Information has also been gratefully provided by WQI Ltd and SWI Ltd, New Zealand.