SIA Grantini 1 takes care of almost 10 percent of all forest harvesting in Latvia
Few companies can say they take care of almost 10 percent of all forest harvesting in their home country. In the coming years, Latvian company SIA Grantini 1 will come very close to achieving a 10 percent share, as approximately 12 million cubic metres of forest is harvested annually in Latvia, and SIA Grantini 1 alone harvests approximately one million cubic metres. Latvia may be a small country, but it does have a lot of forests.
“We operate within a radius of around 200 kilometres from a village called Ranka. This area covers approximately half of Latvia’s surface area and most of its forest areas,” says Gundars Juražs, Technical Director of SIA Grantini 1.
The company got its special name from the gravelly soil type of its hometown. Since a company with that name already existed, the number 1 was added after the name.
“Our company began operations in 1992, shortly after we regained our independence after the collapse of the Soviet Union. We started forestry work with a simple chainsaw and then acquired some Belarus tractors to use as forwarders. We purchased our first real forest machine in 2000, a pre-owned red forwarder. In 2004, we purchased our first new forest machine, a Valmet 911 harvester,” says Juražs.
The Latvian company has had both red and green forest machines. Its first Ponsse was acquired in 2021, and now it already has fifteen, including three PONSSE Scorpion Kings, one PONSSE Giant, two PONSSE Ergos and one PONSSE Cobra as harvesters, plus five PONSSE Buffalo and two PONSSE Elephant forwarders.
“In the beginning we only had red forest machines, then red and green ones, and in the future green and yellow ones. However, we do not want to switch to a single brand, as we want to constantly test machines from two manufacturers and, of course, also maintain competition,” Juražs emphasises.
5000 hours a year
SIA Grantini 1’s forest machines are driven up to 5000 hours a year. There are three drivers per new machine, one of whom drives a 12-hour shift, one who rests and one who is on extended leave. The older machines are used only for single shifts at a time. The ground is often soft, in which case tracks up to 1.2 metres wide are used on top of the wheels. In Latvia, there is an old law that limits the surface area for clear-cutting to a maximum of five hectares, and on wet lands to only two hectares.
“About half of Latvia’s forests are private and half state-owned. We just won a big tender for harvesting in state forests. As a result, our annual harvesting volumes will increase from approximately 800,000 to 1,000,000 cubic metres. We have made investments of eight million euros and increased our staff from 150 to 200.”
Approximately 80 percent of the company’s harvesting involves final felling and 20 percent thinning. Latvian pulpwood is mainly sold to Sweden and Finland, while logs are sent to Latvian or Estonian sawmills. The company also supplies wood to factories that manufacture plywood and fibreboard.
“We have 15 of our own timber trucks, but they are only used to transport trees from private forests. For state forest contracts, we only handle the harvesting, not transports.”
Diverse business operations
Although forest harvesting is the company’s main business, these operations also include the production of wood chips alongside logging and transportation. In addition, the company has its own solar power plant, a wind power plant and two hydropower plants. The company’s original fields have been rented out, but the company still breeds racehorses, while the fields are used to grow bread grain.
“We have our own mechanics, and our fleet is kept in good condition together with Ponsse service representative SIA Baltic Agro Machinery. The official Ponsse representative in the Baltics SIA Baltic Agro Machinery has five service points in different parts of the country, as well as its Baltic spare parts centre and headquarters in Jelgava. When 80,000 to 90,000 cubic metres of wood is harvested or forwarded by a single machine per year, service must work 24/7,” says Juražs.
SIA Grantini 1 usually replaces its forest machines after 20,000 hours, although up to 70,000 hours have been driven on a single machine at most.
Strong demand for good drivers
As in many other countries, there is a shortage of good forest machine drivers in Latvia.
“Only around 15 to 20 forest machine operators graduate from the one school in Latvia. This is nowhere near enough for the needs of forest machine companies.”
SIA Grantini 1 has plans to acquire Ponsse and John Deere simulators for driver training. The company’s most experienced drivers also serve as part-time instructors for new drivers.
