International trade fair organizers Elmia and DLG partnered to establish a forestry fair in Romania. To be called Forest Romania, the fair will exhibit machines and technology in operation and will be held for the first time Sept. 16-18, 2015.
Elmia in Jönköping, Sweden, organizes the world’s leading forestry fair, Elmia Wood. DLG in Germany organizes the world’s leading agricultural fair, Agritechnica, plus other agricultural fairs in several countries.
“We want to establish this meeting place to help international manufacturers gain a strong foothold in this interesting market when the mechanization of forestry operations really takes off,” explained Torbjörn Johnsen of Elmia. “But of course it will also be an important gathering place for everyone who works in the Romanian forest industry.”
Romania is the largest forestry nation in southeast Europe, but some of its neighbors, such as Ukraine, also have sizeable forest resources. The region as a whole has high timber values but a low level of mechanization. The work force is still inexpensive, and felling is currently done using chain saws, simple tractors and skidders. Significant volumes are even skidded out with horses. Although a lot of the standing timber is still owned by the central and municipal governments, all logging work is now done by private independent contractors or timber buyers. The annual permitted felling volume is about 18 million cubic meters.
The fair will be located in the heart of Romania’s most densely forested region, near the city of Brașov in Transylvania. The forest administration in Tărlungen (Ocolul Silvic Ciucaş RA) is providing a good site, which is equipped with excellent logistics and features forest conditions that well reflect those of Romania as a whole.
“This must be the European country with the toughest logging conditions you can imagine,” said Reiner Hofmann of DLG. “Steep terrain, large stems and a sparse network of forest roads place tough demands on technology and machines.
“Forest Romania will not be a fair for the broad mass of products and companies but rather only for companies that can offer solutions which work here,” he added, mentioning as examples harvesters and forwarders suitable for steep terrain and modern skidders and cable systems.
The fair will be a joint venture between Elmia and DLG in which DLG’s Romanian subsidiary DLG InterMarketing will take care of the local arrangements while Elmia’s and DLG’s forestry specialists are responsible for the concept and contents.
