The forest is one of the richest resources in Russia, as evidenced by the high volumes of its exports. By the way, products manufactured on the basis of this raw material occupy seventh place in the industrial sector. The process of manufacturing such products begins with logging - this is a key sector of the national economy, providing for an extensive range of technological and organizational measures.
Preparation for the organization of logging
At the first stage of logging organization, a project is developed with tasks and resources that may be expended at the stage of its implementation. Further, in accordance with the objectives, a territory is selected for deforestation. Logging sites are called lumberjacks, allotments, plots and cutting areas. In essence, this is a section of forest where at least trees should be felled. If we are talking specifically about industrial procurement, then the site is selected away from settlements. In some cases, conditions are also set for the selection of an ecological site — for example, remoteness from polluting enterprises, landfills or landfills. But in this context, it should be borne in mind that logging is not necessarily a site for cutting down trees for further production needs. This may be clearing areas for economic reasons. For example, if it is necessary to thin out an array from young growth and dead wood.
Industrial Logging Technology
At the selected site for the plot, the infrastructure for full logging is organized. What is included in it? At a minimum, special areas for the storage of materials and free paths for their transportation should be provided. On modern lumberjacks, the conditions for basic processing of logs are also provided. These are machines on which trees get rid of knots, are cut into pieces of the desired length and, in some cases, are cleared of bark. Further, the technology of logging involves the storage, drying and rejection of material. Depending on the conditions and requirements of the logistics, it is sometimes more expedient to transport unprocessed logs. The costs of moving a heavier resource can justify itself, since the quality of processing in specialized conditions at the target enterprise, as a rule, exceeds the level of technological support for similar tasks directly on logging.
Applied Equipment
Logging from a technical point of view is a labor-intensive process and requires large resource costs. If earlier felling of trees was carried out with an ordinary saw and ax, today the simplest arsenal of a lumberjack is made up of gasoline and electric chain saws, and high-tech enterprises use computerized harvesters and machines for laying logs. In both cases, the role of man is still significant as the organizer of the entire felling process. The foreman determines the parameters of the file, its direction and the rate of logging. The forest falls in the opposite direction to the main equipment. This point is determined before the cut, as the choice of the place of fall should be based on the requirements for the conditions of further processing of the tree. The next step involves a group of delimbers that clean the logs. In this operation, chain saws can also be used, and with mechanized processing - harvesters (forest harvesters). Moving logs on the work platform is carried out by a forwarder (tractor loader).
Use of logging materials
Harvested logs can be used for a variety of purposes. As a rule, even at the stage of the logging project, the possibilities for future use of raw materials are taken into account. The nature of the primary processing at logging in accordance with the requirements of the customer will depend on this. Among the main types of products in the manufacture of which raw materials are used, the following can be distinguished:
- Construction lumber. Logs, boards, timber, beams, veneer, lamellas, etc. Materials undergo not only mechanical molding under certain parameters, but also thermal, and sometimes chemical processing processes in order to give the product the necessary performance characteristics.
- Pulp and paper products. One of the largest segments of the timber industry, requiring more accurate and delicate processing of blanks for paper, cardboard, pulp, etc.
- Furniture industry. Another major area in which logging products from different stages of processing are used. As technological development grows, so do the requirements for the raw materials used.
- Pellet production. A relatively new and still emerging industry in Russia that uses mostly logging waste. Pellets is an environmentally friendly biofuel that is obtained by pressing and molding recycled sawdust and bark.
Logging as a type of business
The process of logging should be considered as a direction of entrepreneurial activity associated with logging, skidding and processing of the forest. To carry out such activities is possible only within the limits of their own possessions - in the economic zone. Moreover, even ownership of such sites is not always possible due to existing restrictions on the part of regulatory documents on the protection of natural resources. The fact is that logging is not only an activity aimed at making a profit, but also a reduction in one of the country's natural funds. On the other hand, in this industry there are pluses for the state of forestry as a whole. For example, spot felling stimulates the natural process of renewal and renewal of forest stands with the use of trees that are beneficial for the economy.
Forest Fund of Russia
In this case, the fund is understood as the totality of forest resources, as well as industrial facilities, one way or another connected with the harvesting and processing of trees. About 1/4 of the world's forest reserves are concentrated in Russia, which corresponds to 45% of the country's territory in area. As for the composition of forest-forming species, which in principle are suitable for harvesting, they mainly include conifers - cedar, pine, spruce, etc. According to their intended purpose, the composition of the fund is heterogeneous. In Russia, forestry and logging are focused primarily on the needs of industrial harvesting and further chemical-mechanical processing. However, the general structure of the fund is also made up of field-protective, reserved, recreational and water-protective forests. Such massifs are not used for industrial needs, but technological methods of logging can also be applied to them, only with other purposes of maintaining the economy.
Logging regions in the Russian Federation
Most of the existing enterprises are located in the Siberian and North-Western parts of the country. Recently, there has been a crowding out of small companies due to a decrease in the proportion of suitable wood, so the points of new production in projects are already oriented towards the development of the massif in productive areas of the Northeast. Selective logging based on traditional methods with a non-motorized tool dominates in the South and North Caucasus districts. A number of projects are also planned at the facilities of existing enterprises in the Irkutsk region. As part of the pilot campaigns, it is planned to increase the intensification of forest reproduction, which should increase the volume of wood raw material harvesting in the future.
Logging volumes in the Russian Federation
The indicators of production volumes of timber processing enterprises are heterogeneous and depend on many factors - from the level of local infrastructure to the technological nuances of the organization of work. Nevertheless, thanks to investment projects, in recent years the total figure has been increasing. In particular, the annual average harvesting volume is about 200 million m 3 . A share of over 80% of this wood is accounted for by production located in leased territories. The annual increase in volume is explained by the fact that most of the investment projects are aimed at modernizing the facilities of the technical base, which steadily increases the efficiency of enterprises.
Logging problems in Russia
Low rationalization of raw materials processing is considered one of the key problems of the forest industry. Suffice it to say that only a quarter of the total volume of blanks is sent to target production. The finished product is obtained from 10-15% of the material. However, as already noted, logging is not only logging in order to obtain certain products. In addition, waste in the form of knots, needles and bark also find application - in the same fuel granules.
Logging development in the Russian Federation
In the development of investment projects and business plans for the organization of timber processing enterprises, the questions about increasing the energy efficiency of production and the optimization of technological processes are becoming increasingly tough. Based on timber harvesting, a systematic transition is being made to more intensive models of application and reproduction of plantations. In the future, these and other measures will help to achieve sufficient optimization of the production sector, which will allow, at the minimum power and energy costs, to produce the established estimated volume of raw materials and at the same time ensure stable reproduction of the working arrays.
Conclusion
High volumes of logging products and persistent demand for wood raw materials make this industry attractive for entrepreneurs of various levels. At the same time, logging in Russia is still not able to demonstrate the ability to rational production and multi-cycle processing. This is partly due to underdeveloped infrastructure and technological backwardness, but in most cases, the transition to more efficient production models in this sector does not justify itself economically. That is why in recent years innovative projects have been launched to change the current situation, both among manufacturers and in the lumber market as a whole.