Forestry/Wood/Paper

With the largest forests in France, Bordeaux and its region offer all the links in the wood transformation chain.

It ranks as the leading region in France or Europe in a large number of activities, and notably in sawing, boards, Kraft paper and wood-cardboard packaging.
It also benefits from a location close to the markets of the Iberian Peninsula and from dedicated supply chain facilities in the Port of Bordeaux.

3 themes are the focus of the XYLOFUTUR “Products and Materials from Cultivated Forests” competitiveness cluster: forestry resources and sourcing, wood construction and green building material development and green chemistry.

The performance of the wood-paper sector in Aquitaine is driven by a technological and scientific environment of the highest standard with over 250 researchers working notably at the Forestry Cellulose Wood and Construction Technology Institute (FCBA), the research laboratories of the Wood and Polymer Science Unit of the INRA and major international groups such as Smurfit Kappa or Gascogne Group.

XYLOSUP is the competitiveness cluster’s training centre for the professions of forestry and forestry products, with initial training courses up to Masters level and beyond. In addition to this, the only post-graduate diploma in France in “Cultivated Forest Management” was created in Aquitaine.

The Leaders: Smurfit Kappa, Gascogne, Tembec, Papeteries de Condat, Papeteries de Bègles, Egger Rol, Finsa, PGS-Beynel, FP Bois, Lesbats, Archimbaud, Menuiseries Grégoire, Biolandes, DRT, etc