The companies that form part of the Associació de Rematants i Serradors de Catalunya (ARESCAT), propose production cuts due to the lack of raw materials. The shortage of raw materials directly threatens the productivity of companies in the sector.
From 1 April, the companies grouped under the Associació de Rematants i Serradors de Catalunya (ARESCAT) start to cut their production. It is the first time that the sector has taken a measure of this nature and it does so to highlight the serious problem of shortage of raw materials that sawmills have been suffering for years and that threatens the continuity of their activity. This problem is due, in large part, to the difficulties in finding workers willing to carry out work in the forest in the current conditions of low mechanisation. This is not the case in other European countries, such as France, where forest work has been mechanised, professionalised and dignified.
The sector is calling on the Generalitat to take a firm step towards the modernisation of forestry tasks, by supporting the training of professionals and the promotion of safer and more ergonomic working techniques, such as the use of specific machinery for forestry.
ARESCAT proposes the following measures:
- Training of drivers of harvesters and self-loaders to improve the quality of forestry work, the safety and health of forestry operators, as well as to increase productivity.
- Increased budget allocations for the acquisition of more technically advanced forestry machines.
- Promotion of safer and more ergonomic work, with the administration itself being the first to set an example in its contracting, increasing forestry management with specialised forestry equipment.
