Les Scieries du Centre

A family-run industrial sawmill – Puy-de-Dôme

Family business

Slow-growing high-altitude trees for high mechanical performance

Les Scieries du Centre is an industrial sawmill located in Cournon d’Auvergne, in the immediate vicinity of Clermont-Ferrand, in the heart of the Massif Central.

Its geographical location gives it two major advantages:

A supply of high-altitude timber from the Massif Central, France's largest softwood forest area.
Direct access to a major motorway network, with easy connections to all ports, for deliveries throughout France, Europe, the Maghreb countries, the Middle East and more distant countries.

It is now managed by three partners Julien Manzoni, Jean-Denis Massoubre and Benjamin Vallon since December 2022.

Les Scieries du Centre, an old and modern sawmill

Les Scieries du Centre, over a century of experience in Auvergne's forestry and timber sector

Knowledge of the forests of the Massif Central, softwoods, sawing and woodworking has been part of family traditions for over a century.

At the dawn of the 20th century, Jean Esbelin began a forestry business.
In 1939, his son Marcel created a first company in Orcines at the foot of Puy de Dôme.
In 1951, he created a new sawing company and moved to Clermont-Ferrand.
In 1975, Marcel Esbelin set up the sawmill in Cournon at its current site.
In 1989, Philippe Esbelin took over the management of the company and continued investments to modernise the production site,
In December 2022, three company executives, Julien Manzoni, Jean-Denis Massoubre and Benjamin Vallon, took over the sawmill. The aim is to continue modernisation and the development of secondary processing.

Today, with an annual production capacity of 30,000 m3 of sawn timber per year, Les Scieries du Centre is a sawmill representative of Auvergne's major softwood sawmills. Its high-performance wood treatment, drying and planing facilities enable it to offer its customers grades and dimensions of sawn timber meeting the expectations of timber and building-material merchants, timber construction companies and the packaging industry.

Les Scieries du Centre

Machines and people

Skilled staff and high-performance equipment for quality sawn timber production

Log yard, debarker, head saw, multi-blade canter saw, resaw, edging saw, sorter, stacker, and all the standard sawmill equipment, automated and computerised, are present in the company. Chosen for their robustness, production and finishing qualities, expertly operated by experienced staff and maintained with great care, they provide the company with consistent, high-quality production.

To complement this production equipment, the company offers:

Wood treatment with three tanks:
- Anti-Blue Stain - CTB standard,
- Fungicide & Insecticide - Yellow,
- Fungicide & Insecticide - Colourless
Drying with 2 kilns:
- one used for NIMP15 heat treatment and vacuum drying,
- one used only for vacuum drying,
Planing with 2 planers:
- one planer for large sections
- one planing line for structural timber and decking boards