Euroports Pietarsaari takes care of the overall operations of sawn timber for HASA sawmills. Thanks to this collaboration, the sawmills can deliver their goods to the port area for storage when the need arises. Euroports invests in service quality and fast reaction times.

Euroports operates a little over 300,000 cubic metres of timber annually at the Pietarsaari port area. The port’s main product is cellulose, but the staff has long-standing experience and strong expertise in operating timber as well.

– Operating mechanical forest industry products is one of our priority areas. Cellulose is moved through the port the most, but sawn timber is a close second in volume. We invest in it and constantly work to grow the sector, explains Pauli Rautiainen, Operational Director of Euroports Pietarsaari.

One significant customer in the timber sector is the Finnish sawmill corporation HASA. HASA has production facilities in Haapajärvi, Haapavesi and Eskola. Euroports and HASA have collaborated for several decades. Euroports takes care of forwarding, storage and loading operations as well as ship clearance and customs.

– HASA products are delivered to the port area by road, and we provide them full-service. In our collaboration, our large and excellent storage facilities and outdoor field areas which allow us to store large quantities of product are highlighted. The large storage capacity is important because shipments to North Africa are completed once a month on average.

Euroports receives HASA products in two shifts from Monday to Friday. The turnaround time has been reduced to minimal.

– We have made significant investments to ensure efficient turnaround time. When the vehicles do not just stand around waiting for our equipment, the customer saves in transport costs. The collaboration between our forwarding services and the sawmill also works extremely well both ways.

Quick reactions to changing needs

Haapajärvellä on pitkät perinteet sahatuotannossa, sillä siellä on sahattu jo yli 80 vuotta. Vuonna 1989 perustettu HASA tuottaa vuosittain keskimäärin noin 400 000 kuutiometriä valmista sahatavaraa. Noin puolet tästä suuntautuu vientiin ja noin puolet jää kotimaahan.

– Our domestic sector is quite large in comparison to other Finnish sawmills. We export sawn timber to different markets all around the world, for example to Japan, China, and Great Britain. However, the majority of our exports are directed to Egypt, explains Jussi Walta, Export Manager of HASA.

The extent of the collaboration between Euroports Pietarsaari and HASA has fluctuated throughout the years due to the prevailing market situation. In the last year, the demand has been unusually high and, as a result, the quantities of sawn timber operated by Euroports have risen.

– I am certain that our current lines and traffic support HASA’s needs beautifully. However, it is obvious that products of just one customer cannot fill any ships. Deliveries are required from several different sawmills, and several different sales agents are needed to collect cargo. HASA is an extremely important link in this chain for us, Rautiainen says.

– We focus on growing our collaboration further. We can react to the changing needs of our customers on a tight schedule. Our service levels have increased thanks to the Mantsinen 200 crane we acquired a year ago. The effects on the ships, for example, can be seen clearly now that we can process cargo more efficiently than before.

Traditional Egyptian balk

Like Jussi Walta mentioned earlier, majority of HASA’s products are delivered to North Africa, specifically to Egypt. The majority of exports headed for the land of the pyramids consist of so-called Egyptian balk.

– Egyptian balk is a very traditional product as it is believed to be one of the oldest Finnish export items. It is mainly used in construction. In the bigger picture, Egypt is its only market area, Walta explains.

The collaboration with Euroports Pietarsaari has grown in the past few years. It is, of course, controlled by the market situation. To HASA, excellent geographical location and collaboration that works in many different ways are important.

– Pietarsaari is one of our surrounding ports, which means that it is a great option logistically. We have been happy with our collaboration in every possible way. Euroports provides us with full-service which allows us to focus on our core operations, Walta commends.

– All in all, operations at Euroports are efficient and flexible. I have received excellent feedback from the truck drivers. They say, for example, that they do not need to wait around at the port because the loads are taken down quickly. This way, no time is wasted on the wrong things, Walta says.