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 Cape and KZN to assess how things are faring, we can report that as usual the year started off slowly in term of sales but not as slow as expected.
Sawmillers in those regions, while not entirely happy with the situation, say that it could be worse. This attitude is most definitely not shared by some up in Mpumalanga. While we are yet to make a visit up north this year, the reports are not very encouraging with part of the problem attributable to the price of sawlogs. We need to look into this with a little more depth.
Talking of sawlogs in Mpumalanga, this brings me to Safcol and news is that Mr Tshepo Monaheng, former CEO of Safcol, has been transferred to Denel. His move is a loss to the sector; we are sad to see Tshepo leave the sector, however we wish him well in his new position.
EXEC MEETING AND WOOD CONFERENCE
February saw us hold the first Executive meeting of the year in the beautiful surrounds of Jonkershoek at MTO’s offices. This coincided with the 14th annual Wood Conference at the CTICC the day after.
The most important issue coming out of the Exco meeting was the Exco’s support for the SSA’s export initiative that intends to assist sawmillers in finding off-shore markets. SSA has been given the mandate to find opportunity in Africa and the rest of the world for approximately 7% to 8% of the currently available volume of sawn lumber. This could possibly equate to 150 000 – 200 000 cubic metres and would go a long way to alleviate strain on the lumber supply.
The drive towards increased exports will be handled by myself with the help of Thomas Craddock. We have already visited Egypt and made contact with buyers in Ghana. Other countries on the radar are India, China, Vietnam and South Korea. We also envisage using our close ties with the Department of Trade, Industry and Competition to assist in opening and exploring these markets.
The Wood Conference in Cape Town, which has become an annual event on the timber – and architectural – calendar, is hosted by the Kuratle Group. The Kuratle Group is an international family-run company based in Switzerland. HWZ International SA, a division of Kuratle, is well known in SA and focused on promoting timber construction and use in South Africa and other parts of the continent.
The conference was attended by well over 400 delegates, the majority of whom were either architects and construction engineers and is a great vehicle for spreading the word among these professionals of the virtues of using more wood in their construction projects. Several international speakers provided insightful examples of timber construction projects in their home countries; it was exciting to hear our local voices speak and share some fantastic examples of what is being done on SA soil. It was very inspiring and confirmed that this is a sphere where we should focus our efforts.
Collaboration will be the game changer for our sector! So until next month, keep cutting straight and drying flat, and sharing the good news about wood, got it?
Cheers,
Roy Southey
Executive Director: Sawmilling South Africa
Read the full February Newsletter HERE
