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 from the market. Upon visiting mills up in KZN, I have had reports that August was a little better than July which is good, however there is a worrying development that is starting to raise its head. This is especially in the more northern parts of the country where an increasing amount of undried, ungraded, and untreated timber is being found on the “formal merchant” market.
This problem is growing and is most disturbing. When this timber finds its way onto building sites where, shall we say regulation and inspections are somewhat slacker, it not only puts the consumer at risk but will also tarnish the reputation of sawmills who uphold standards and integrity.
We will working on some educational communications to the building fraternity, regulators and merchant to raise awareness of the dangers of using “substandard” timber.
The root cause of this is, of course, cost. In these tough economic times, one can understand, however traders will take advantage by pushing wet off-saw and ungraded timber into the market.
The industry, together with institutions, universities and the Forestry Masterplan, have been doing great work over the last few years to raise the profile of our South African sawn timber.
There, I have had my rant for the month; now for some better news.
We are all set to attend the China Global Wood Trade Conference in Rizhao.
The China Global Wood Trade Conference (GWT China), an annual event for global wood traders, is an extraordinary marketing opportunitySouth African timber. The gathering attracts more than 500 participants from more than 20 countries such as including wood suppliers, importers, wholesalers, distributors, manufacturers as well as trade associations, industry experts and government officials.
At present, China’s real estate market is in a period of adjustment; the consumption of building materials is showing a slight downward trend, interior decoration is developing steadily, and the consumption of structural wood products is developing. In terms of timber supply, the quality of domestic forests is poor, and China still needs to import large quantities of timber. In 2023, China imported a total of 77.5 million m3 of wood (equivalent logs), down 4.7% year-on-year. This includes 38 million m3 were logs and 39.45 million m3 lumber were imported.
Whilst these number are slightly down they nonetheless represent a great opportunity in our eyes — we are hoping to find a niche for our structural timber products. It would be naive to expect a perfect fit, however we will be looking for attractive prospects.
The Talking Timber team recently hosted a webinar on exterior applications for timber. You can watch the recording here.
The University of Pretoria will be hosting the Growing Timber Connections. conference on 10 September. There is an exciting line-up of guests and I highly recommend that you consider attending. You can register here.
As usual, until next month keep cuting straight and dry flat!
Cheers,
Roy Southey
Executive Director: Sawmilling South Africa
