In case you missed it – 6 February Talking Timber webinar available on Youtube
Thank you for registering for the Talking Timber webinar on 6 February 2025 focusing on Timber Frame Construction, Standards and Codes. Here is the Youtube link of the edited recording. https://youtu.be/BzkWV9-NNbM?si=d1AzhIs5S1DjZEB6 If you did register, but did not attend, we would love to know why. Please complete this short survey. Should you have any queries, […]
REGISTRATION IS OPEN – WoodEX for Africa 2025
REGISTRATION IS OPENRegister now for FREE entry and join us from June 18th to 20th, 2025, as WoodEX for Africa returns to Gallagher Convention Centre in Johannesburg for three productive days. Following the success of WoodEX for Africa 2024 — a sold-out event with record-breaking visitor numbers and positive feedback from exhibitors — this is […]
The changing face of the built environment
The Talking Timber webinar series promotes the use of timber in the built environment by engaging with architects, engineers, wood scientists, researchers, builders and designers. Various topics are discussed, including timber properties, moisture content, wood preservation, cross-laminated timber (CLT), fire design, and detailing. Wood-based building products and design processes come in many forms. In the […]
Forestry sector marks 15 years of transformation with inspiring stories and insightful discussions
“You can live from the soil. You can educate your children, provide for them, and have a home. All because of the soil. The soil changes everything,” says timber farmer Rejoice Shozi who took over the family timber growing business when her mother passed away in 2015. Shozi is one of 3,600 small timber growers […]
30 years on, a friendly checkmark-and-treelogo holds its own for the world’s forests
Thanks to Tristram Branscombe-Kent’s invaluable inspiration, thousands of consumers worldwide come across the friendly checkmark-and-tree logo along with our ‘Forests For All Forever’ tag line. This year, as we celebrate our 30th anniversary, we honour his memory and convey our gratitude, on behalf of all the people who work hard contributing to the health of the […]
Timber: the unexpected hero of sustainable construction
Can you imagine a building that soars to 24 storeys, comprising 75% wood? No need to imagine it – it exists! The HoHo Tower in Vienna, Austria, at 84 metres, is one of the tallest timber buildings in the world. Completed in 2019, the building combines mass timber with concrete cores, exemplifying hybrid construction methods. […]
Boosting growth with entry-level sawmilling systems
Sawmills of any size can improve efficiency, decrease costs, increase quality and lay the basis for future expansion with the power of sawmilling systems. The traditional thinking on sawmilling systems is that they are only used in high-production sawmilling environments. While that might be true, it’s also a fact that small to medium-sized […]
The Case and Need for Mass Timber
As a supporter of Forestry For The Future, you’re familiar with many of the economic and climate benefits of building taller with wood. Unlocking the potential of Mass Timber across Canada will significantly address many key challenges given its ability to: Accelerate housing construction time by as much as 20%. Drive economic activities and create jobs […]
SSA – Annual Report 2023/2024
Sawmilling South Africa – Annual Report 2023 / 2024 CHAIRMAN’S REPORT | Duncan Mackay As we pause and look back on the past 12 months, our earlier apprehension around prospects for the sawmilling industry proved to be quite justified, with limited opportunities for growth. We were instead mostly involved in ensuring that our companies survived […]
WoodEX for Africa 2024 Opens Tomorrow
ARE YOU READY? THE SHOW OPENS TOMORROW The doors are opening tomorrow for yet another edition of WoodEX for Africa, the premier woodworking event in South Africa, set to take place at Gallagher in Johannesburg from 4-6 June, 2024. Exhibitors are ready and eager to connect, conduct business, network, and collaborate with you and other […]
CLT Design & Sructural Engineering Workshop – Stellenbosch
CALLING ALL ARCHITECTS & BUILDING PROFESSIONALS Especially those in Cape Town and surrounds The Wood App in partnership with Stellenbosch University is hosting a CPD accredited CLT DESIGN & STRUCTURAL ENGINEERING WORKSHOP on 5 June 2024. The workshop will welcome insights and expertise of Jamie Smily and Michael Kloos. The Wood App was initiated to […]
Eco-friendly football stadium takes root in Lesotho
Uniting sports and sustainability to drive social change JOHANNESBURG, SOUTH AFRICA – 2 APRIL 2024 – Lesotho in southern Africa is poised to welcome a groundbreaking 1,280-seater football stadium constructed primarily from sustainably sourced timber, dubbed the Stadium of Life. Located in the country’s capital of Maseru, this innovative project, which harnesses timber’s renewability and […]
Sustainable timber construction builds momentum in Africa
Relocatable boardroom WHK Namibia BOXA Possibilities South Africa-based Sustainabuild Group closes R60-million seed round to revolutionise sustainable construction in Africa The round was funded by Criterion Africa Partners (CAP) and the Vumela Fund, established by FNB Business and Edge Growth in the Sustainabuild Group. The Sustainabuild Group consists of Boxa Possibilities, Mass Timber Technologies and Sustainabuild […]
Join WoodEX for Africa 2024
Come and join us at the WoodEX for Africa 2024 trade show, set to take place at Gallagher in Johannesburg from 4 – 6 June 2024. Following the success of WoodEX for Africa 2023, where we collaborated with Big 5 Construct South Africa, the event was well-received, fully booked, and praised by exhibitors. Additionally, we […]
How engineered wood can decarbonise the South African built environment
IT’S TIME FOR TIMBER | How engineered wood can decarbonise the South African built environment Roy Southey, executive director, Sawmilling South Africa Our planet is faced with both an environmental crisis and housing crisis. There is, however, a sector that is overlooked as a viable, renewable and long-term solution to climate change and urbanisation. Having recently […]
Research on pine trees shows hope for employment
Award-winning research by a young forester from Mpumalanga into harvesting biomass manually after pine trees have been felled has been presented at an international conference. Thandekile Ncongwane, 28, won a Celebrating Excellence award from Nelson Mandela University in November for her Master’s treatise on this subject, which she aced with a score of 93%. Ncongwane […]
Cameroon Sawmilling Success
The Wood-Mizer HR115 Resaw cutting accurate and high value boards. A very successful sawmill in Yaoundé, Cameroon grows their business even further with Wood-Mizer. Bois d’ Afrique SARL BDA is a profitable sawmill in Ahala outside Yaoundé in Cameroon. The sawmill was started in 2016 by the late Mr George Essala. The sawmill started off […]
Dehumidification technology for drying lumber
By Henco Viljoen, Timber Soft: Kilns 4 Africa In kiln drying, lumber is placed in a chamber where airflow, temperature and humidity are controlled to provide as rapid drying as can be tolerated by the lumber without increasing defects. Each kiln type is defined by how the temperature and humidity are controlled. There are two […]
Winners of the first South Africa Timber Design Competition announced
Christo van der Hoven, Shannon Govender, Emma Ayeso-Koranteng, Nicola Smut at the awards event The “Timber in Context” competition challenged student designers and architects to explore new structural and ecological possibilities of timber construction through innovation in contemporary and traditional wooden materials. The brief: To design an interactive agricultural and environmental skills training centre in […]
South African softwood sawmillers struggle as markets tank
By: Joy Crane “We have been through thick and thin in the past and survived. But nobody in the sawmilling industry can remember a time like this. Sawn timber sales are at an all-time low because the economy, and therefore the building industry, is stagnating”, says Roy Southey, chief executive of Sawmilling South Africa (SSA). […]
Timber Frame Design & Construction – 1 Day Workshop
Source: The Wood App
Use of Timber must be promoted in the construction – Deputy Minister Gina
The Deputy Minister of Trade, Industry and Competition, Ms Nomalungelo Gina delivering a keynote address at the Timber Construction Conference in Pretoria Both the government and the timber sector must commit to promoting the introduction and holistic use of timber in the local construction industry as timber has a transformative potential that could revolutionise and […]
Join WoodEX for Africa 2024
Join WoodEX for Africa 2024 Come and be part of the WoodEX for Africa 2024 trade show, held at Gallagher in Johannesburg from 4 – 6 June 2024! Following the resounding success of WoodEX for Africa 2023, where we hosted a sold-out event and received overwhelmingly positive feedback from exhibitors, along with record-breaking visitor numbers. WoodEX […]
Executive Director’s Report / August Newsletter 2023
Read the full August newsletter HERE September 1st heralds not only a new season but also the start of Arbour Week in South Africa. It is a month that celebrates trees of all kinds. Of course, I need not remind you that our sawmilling sector relies on the renewable resource of farmed wood. Our colleagues […]
Timber Construction Conference
Image: Dook Photography Themed “Growing Timber Connections”, the Timber Construction Conference will take place on 12 September 2023 at Future Africa in Pretoria. It will be tailored specifically for engineers and architects who play pivotal roles in shaping the future of construction. The event – which will feature a knowledge-sharing conference, an exhibition by industry […]
Wood-Mizer’s Edger & Multirip rang – For a sawmill’s most demanding cutting jobs
With up to 4 moveable blades and a picker finger outfeed system, the EA3000 optimizing edger uses optical scanning technology to achieve high-precision edging results that minimizes waste and provide the yields needed by sawmills to generate industry-leading returns. Wood-Mizer’s Edger & Multirip rang – For a sawmill’s most demanding cutting jobs Wood-Mizer’s edger and […]
Executive Director’s Report – July 2023
Good day to all you brave sawmillers and I mean brave! I have been in this industry for more than 30 years now and I cannot recall a time when sawmillers were up against such odds. In the past, it’s always been either market or logs, but now you have to add loadshedding – and […]
Timber Frame Design & Construction – 1 Day Workshop
Source: The Wood App
Final Responsible Use – Train the Trainer Module for 2023
DEAR CROPLIFE SA STAKEHOLDER FINAL TRAIN THE TRAINER COURSE FOR 2023 I will be offering the final train the trainer course for 2023 about responsible use training for farmers, farm depot managers and spray operators on Friday 4 August 2023 from 09h00 to 12h00 via MS Teams.Please register here and follow theprompts in the subsequent […]
Executive Director’s Report – June 2023
June has been a particularly busy month for Sawmilling South Africa and its members, and in this issue, we can report back on our Executive Management Meeting, the Annual General Meeting (AGM) and the 2023 edition of WoodEX for Africa. The AGM was held on 7 June at the University of Pretoria’s Engineering 4.0 facility […]
Michael Peter addresses SSA AGM
SSA address7 June 2023 Good morning ladies and gentlemen. What a pleasure it is to be with you here again. It was two years ago when Roy asked me to say a few words about the PPGI and the Forestry Sector Masterplan and so much has happened since then. We were still dealing with the […]
Sawmilling South Africa – May Update
Last month, we described the uncertain situation bedevilling the sawmilling industry for a variety of unavoidable reasons. The question on everyone’s lips is when will it ever end? At the Forestry South Africa AGM held in Pietermaritzburg last week, there shone a glimmer of hope. Delegates are reported to have been encouraged by speeches delivered by […]
Sawmilling South Africa – April Update
The Easter break and April long weekends are behind us, so it comes as no surprise that production levels at our mills are on the low side. Prolonged holiday periods are unfortunately not the only reason for this decline and hearing from up-country millers, it is clear that there are no immediate signs of relief. […]
Duva Timbers continues its robust growth path
Owner of Duva Timbers, 25-year-old Pieter van der Linde, sidesteps log supply shortages with the recent purchase of timber assets to close the log shortfall and ensure the sawmill’s future growth. A 2020 review of Duva Timbers unpacked the successes of a growing timber company started by Pieter, a young sawmilling entrepreneur from Polokwane in […]
WoodEX for Africa 2023: Only Two Months to Go and 80% Sold Out!
WoodEX for Africa is preparing for the most important event in the sub-Saharan African wood and machinery industry. With over 80% of the stands already sold out, this event expects to attract over 8,500 visitors and feature 150 exhibitors from 30 different countries. The event provides an ideal opportunity for exhibitors to network with important […]
FOREST21 exceeding all expectations
FOREST21 is a collaborative project between five South African and three European universities aimed at strengthening capacity across South African higher education institutions offering forestry programmes. The initiative recently received great praise from Deputy Minister of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment (DFFE), Maggie Sotyu, at a stakeholder engagement workshop. “FOREST21 illustrates the true spirit of […]
Invitation to a workshop on compliance with new Methyl Bromide usage procedure in South Africa
The Department of Agriculture, Land reform & Rural development and Department of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment hereby invites all role players involved in the importation, distribution, and use of Methyl bromide (Importers, distributors, fumigators, Freight Forwarding Agents) to the following workshop. The purpose of the roadshow is to: Update stakeholders on discontinuation of Methyl […]
Results from recent MSc study provides design values for SA Pine CLT
Mr MJ Jacobs (centre) successfully defended his MSc thesis with the title ‘Out-of-plane strength and stiffness prediction of SA Pine cross-laminated timber’. The most important conclusion was that the shear analogy calculation method gave the best predictions for strength and stiffness of SA Pine CLT. A table of unfactored resistance for three-, and five-layer layups […]
Timber engineering for fire
Partially charred glulam column on the left pre 2-hour fire test, and after on the right. Photo by David Barber of ARUP Sawmilling South Africa’s (SSA’s) Talking Timber webinar series aims to overcome misconceptions about wood as a structural material by informing architects, engineers, insurance companies, regulatory authorities, academics, and developers about engineered timber products […]
New report recommends growth in sustainable forestry via nationally determined approaches to meet climate driven demand for fibre and timber
New report recommends growth in sustainable forestry via nationallydetermined approaches to meet climate driven demand for fibre and timber New report from Dalberg Advisors ‘The growing roles of forest products in climate change mitigation’ launched at COP27 Report recommends countries use ‘nationally determined approaches’ policy to grow timber and wood fibre supply Report notes supply […]
Tagged COP27FAOSustainable Forestry