IT was designed to be an accessible, compact meeting place uniting manufacturers of large-scale forestry machines with their key customers – and that’s just what it delivered.
Forestry professionals from around the world gathered in Stockholm this month for the first ever Swedish Forestry Expo.
Thousands travelled to the Solvalla racetrack to see machinery and equipment from manufacturers including John Deere, Komatsu, Ponsse, Rottne, Eco Log and many more.
Founded by the trade association MaskinLeverantörerna on behalf of its members in the forestry industry, the show was established with the aim of focussing only on large-scale forestry.
This meant only products targeted at companies and forest owners with at least 5,000 ha of forest land would be permitted to exhibit.
By limiting the scope in this way, organisers sought to bring together all the major machinery brands in a compact, accessible meeting place where all the suppliers a customer wished to see could be visited in one day.
While it was mostly a static event with no trees cut, a few machinery demonstrations could be seen and many new products were launched.
Exhibitors praised the show for delivering on its promise of bringing them together with their customers while reporting an enthusiastic response from visitors.
Ponsse’s Carl-Henrik Hammar said: “It’s been a great event. It was many years ago that five manufacturers – Ponsse, Komatsu, John Deere, Rottne and Eco Log – decided we should have a new way of meeting customers in Sweden, compared to the old concept. This is what it became.
“It has been quite amazing. I have been involved from the beginning. It has been postponed two times and now that it’s finally happened it feels great.”
Annelie Persson from Komatsu said: “It is very important for us to have this social meeting place to be able to meet our customers, especially after COVID. It’s very important to meet in person again and not just digitally. That is why we are thrilled to be here. It’s a new show, but the sentiment and ambience has been great. We’re truly enjoying it.”
Niklas Lefrevre of Rottne added. “It’s been very good. A lot of people, good weather, a lot of professionals.”
The Expo’s own Facebook feed summed up: “We’re extremely happy with the outcome. It’s been a blast! See you all again soon!”
Look for a full report in the July issue of Forestry Journal and further exclusive content on our website, across our social media channels and on YouTube.
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