The forest products sector
The forest industries offer great promise for the Midi-Pyrenees region. The agrichain established by the AgriMip Sud-Ouest Innovation competitiveness cluster has the capacity to capitalize on and promote this potential by integrating the sector into the dynamics of technological excellence.
Strong growth
Forests cover one fourth of the Midi-Pyrenees territory, (1 133 ha), making it the number three forested region in France.
However, it ranks only fifth for its timber harvest, due to numerous small parcels and the difficulties of logging in mountainous areas. Nevertheless, the sector generates a growing number of jobs, with 4,200 companies and 22,000 direct, local jobs, in addition to indirect employment. The demand for lumber is growing, accounting for 9% of the value of raw materials consumed in France in the building trades, compared to 15% in Germany, and 35% in North America.
Federating forest industry producers
The Alliance Forestière brings together several Midi-Pyrenees production cooperatives, thus reinforcing the sector’s competitiveness by consolidating the offer and guaranteeing regularity of supply, by developing partnerships with industrialists, and by establishing exclusive procurement contracts. The sector thus benefits from grouped management and sharing of know-how inherent in the implementation of an agrichain.
Innovative players
The Canadian group Tembec, present in Midi-Pyrenees through its subsidiary in Saint-Gaudens, is third worldwide in the production of pulp for paper. The group is developing a forceful strategy to position itself in the world market as the specialist in cellulose molecules, by working to establish upstream integration for enhanced optimization of the forest-products sector. This key innovator in the sector is an active participant in the agrichain established by AgriMip Sud-Ouest Innovation.
