Executive Director’s Report / November/December Newsletter 2024
As the year draws to a close, many of us are likely breathing a collective sigh of relief after what has been one of the most challenging years for sawmillers in recent memory. Many in the industry have never experienced such difficult times, and it is a testament to our resilience that so many sawmillers […]
Executive Director’s Report / October Newsletter 2024
As we enter the final stretch of the year, I am pleased to share some encouraging news from the sawmilling sector. While the improvements aren’t dramatic, we are seeing signs of a slight uptick. It may be the usual year-end boost, but we’ll know for sure in the coming months. Several sawmillers have reported an […]
SSA Executive Director’s Report / September Newsletter 2024
Read full Sawmilling South Africa – September 2024 Newsletter Sawmillers: Tough, Resilient, and Still Fighting As we find ourselves in September, it’s clear that sawmillers are still fighting to stay afloat. One thing we’ve always said about ourselves is that we’re a resilient bunch, but now I think it’s fair to add that we’re tough, too. […]
SSA Executive Director’s Report / August Newsletter 2024
Read full Sawmilling South Africa – August 2024 Newsletter August sees us rolling down the hill towards year end. It’s hard to believe! Like all Augusts of past, there is nothing to write home about except that in the past few years it is a time when we usually see a steady demand for structural timber […]
SSA Executive Director’s Report / July Newsletter 2024
Read full Sawmilling South Africa – July 2024 Newsletter We are well over the halfway mark of 2024. Isn’t it amazing how quickly the second half of the year goes by? After the very sad month experienced by one of our sawmillers, July has been a battle to get at on an emotional level. Our […]
Bravely sawmilling in the Eastern Cape
Third-generation sawmiller Denver de Kock is the owner of RD Sawmill Denver de Kock, MD of RD Sawmill near Maclear in SA’s Eastern Cape Province, is defying tough trading conditions by operating a Wood-izer-powered sawmilling business. The de Kock clan is a legendary part of the sawmilling landscape in the Eastern Cape. This […]
Executive Director’s Report / June Newsletter 2024
It breaks my heart that I need to start my monthly brief with the devastating news of the sudden passing of Claire Hoatson, wife of Sean Hoatson, on the evening of Saturday 22 June. Claire leaves her husband Sean, sons Nathan and Joshua and daughter Becks. A touching memorial service was held on Friday 28 […]
Executive Director’s Report / May Newsletter 2024
A major highlight in May was the Forestry South Africa (FSA) annual general meeting held in Howick. Tangible evidence of the positive support FSA is offering to the industry was the turnout, the largest in many years. The choice of a topical guest speaker set the seal on a most worthwhile occasion. Dr John Endres, […]
Partnering with Wood-Mizer drives DRC sawmill’s growth
Elie Bembay, Wood-Mizer’s Authorised Dealer in Kolwezi on the left together with Jinajunga Borisomoya, Krishna Wood’s MD and Fred Kapenda, Wood-Mizer DRC’s Area Manager on the right. A Kolwezi-based sawmill, Krishna Wood, grows from one to four Wood-Mizer sawmills in just two years. “I realized there was money in wood when I saw the first […]
Executive Director’s Report / April Newsletter 2024
Read the full April Newsletter HERE As we start to prepare for winter, we are mindful that with it comes the dreaded fire season once more. We hope that this year will be relatively incident-free as we certainly don’t need any fire-related calamities on top of an already tough year. On this note, it would […]
Executive Director’s Report / February Newsletter 2024
Read the full February Newsletter HERE Collaboration and Communication will Grow our Sector I am sure you will agree that it has been a rather busy start to the year! It is hard to believe that a month has passed since my last bulletin. After a quick visit to a few millers in the Eastern […]
Executive Director’s Report / January Newsletter 2024
Read the full January Newsletter HERE We have arrived in 2024 and we wish you all a great and prosperous year. Let’s hope that the new year brings better things than 2023. In conversation with some of the mills, it seems that although it’s a bit early to tell, some are off to a reasonable […]
Executive Director’s Report / November Newsletter 2023
Read the full November Newsletter HERE So we have arrived on the doorstep of December 2023. I can’t believe we are looking at the end of yet another year. While 2023 has not been as dramatic as some of the past years’ challenges of Covid 19 and devastating forest fires, it has certainly been one […]
Executive Director’s Report / October Newsletter 2023
Read the full October Newsletter HERE Wow! Another month down, and now we are certainly looking at the downhill run to the year-end. Can you believe it? It would be remiss of me not to mention the ‘green and gold’ high that our country is experiencing with the Springboks’ victorious win at the Rugby World Cup. […]
Executive Director’s Report / September Newsletter 2023
Read the full August newsletter HERE Greetings! With the advent of spring and the end of the year approaching, time just seems to speed up. In the past, this was a period when bulging order books saw mills work to full capacity to clear outstanding orders before the annual shutdown. Given the difficulties encountered this year, […]
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 […]
SSA – July 2023 Newsletter
Read the full newsletter HERE 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 […]
SSA – June 2023 Newsletter
Read the full newsletter HERE 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 […]
SSA – May 2023 Newsletter
Read the full newsletter HERE 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 […]
SSA – April 2023 Newsletter
Read the full newsletter HERE 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 […]
SSA – February 2023 Newsletter
Read the full newsletter HERE IT’S TIME FOR TIMBER 2023 is already in full swing and despite the difficulties our industry is facing, we can report on some exciting prospects for our remarkable resource of timber. I must, however, start by noting the sad and unexpected passing of Peter Sorfa in January, and pay tribute to […]
SSA – January 2023 Newsletter
Read the full newsletter HERE So, here we are in 2023 and at the end of the first month: can you believe it? Coming out of the Knysna forest years ago an old friend of mine once told me that the world was in a faster and faster shrinking spiral, and that time as we know […]
SSA – November / December 2022 Newsletter
Read the full newsletter HERE December 2022 has arrived. Another month, another year, can you believe it? November turned out to be not much different from previous Novembers, with the exception that 2022’s lumber market was a little slower than in the past. Other interesting happenings this last month saw the Mpumalanga workshop – as […]
SSA – October 2022 Newsletter
SAWMILLING SOUTH AFRICA NEWS Last month, we started off the newsletter like this: As September draws to a close and we prepare for the start of year-end, we find ourselves looking toward the future with hope. Although 2022 has presented its challenges and proved to be a tough year, we remain optimistic that December will […]
SSA – September 2022 Newsletter
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