Of Ponsse's production, more than 73% is exported to approximately 40 different countries. This year, Ponsse will invest strongly, for example, in new service centres in Uruguay, France and the United States. Last year, Ponsse opened up new market areas by starting operations in Australia and Chile.
The sale and maintenance of PONSSE forest machines are carried out by Randalls Equipment Co in Australia and by FC-Venta y Servicios Ltda in Chile. The first PONSSE machines were delivered to both of these markets at the end of last year. Ponsse already delivered machines to Chile in the 1990s but the machines delivered to Austrialia were the first ones in the company's history.
“In the United States, Ponsse's machine base is growing strongly and, to support this growth, we will invest in maintenance and spare parts services. We are the market leader in cut-to-length forest machines in the USA,” says Jarmo Vidgrén, Ponsse's Sales and Marketing Director. Ponsse North America Inc. will open a service centre in Eugene, Oregon, on the west coast. The new facilities are in a central location, supporting the growing markets on the west coast in terms of cut-to-length harvesters and harvester head sales. The region's softwood-dominated and steep logging sites are excellent for Ponsse's 8-wheeler forest machines and its expanded range of harvester and processing heads.
The recovered harvesting market in the United States has also expedited the decision to build a service centre in Gaylord in Lower Michigan. The new facilities offer better possibilities to maintain the region's growing machine base and manage a larger spare parts stock.
In Europe, Ponsse will invest in the new service centre of its French subsidiary Ponssé SAS in Labouheyre. This year's most significant investment in the South American service network is the new service centre to be built in Paysandu in Uruguay.
