Euroforest Ireland has been exporting medium to large sawlogs to Germany in recent weeks, in addition to the company’s established pulpwood markets in the UK.

Last weekend the first shipment of logs by an overseas company took place at Dundalk Port.

Commercial large logs were exported to Belgium by LJR a Canadian-US forestry company.

“The logs were harvested for a forest owner who is a member of the North East Forestry Group (NEFG), near Killashandra, Co Cavan,” said Derek McCabe, chair of the Irish Forest Owners (IFO) and member of the NEFG.

“We are organising NEFG members with windblown forests into cluster groups to facilitate the orderly removal of storm damaged trees,” he added.

The NEFG is one of Ireland’s forest owner groups that is organised to ensure a co-operative approach to harvesting windblow.

McCabe said it is important for forest owners to have a wide range of options when selling timber as the area of timber blown in private forests represents “four years’ harvest” if business as usual harvesting is carried out.

“Our members are willing to sell blown timber to Irish sawmills, but the entry of overseas companies who wish to harvest and export logs to the continent is a welcome development,” he maintained.

“Timber is sold by volume in cubic metres to these companies rather than weight.

“This measurement system, which is the norm in the continent, avoids the contentious and confusing issues associated with volume-weight conversion which is the method used by Irish timber processors.”

In addition to LJR, harvesting contractors are arriving – or have arrived – to Ireland at the time of writing from Estonia, France and Germany.

Most of the timber is likely to be exported to the continent.