
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. Few industries have faced as many challenges as we have, and yet here we are, still standing. But let’s be honest — we’re not out of the woods yet. From my conversations with fellow sawmillers, it looks like we’ll be facing these challenges well into the end of the year.
Feedback on the China Global Wood Trade Conference
Last month, we attended the 2024 China Global Wood Trade Conference in Rizhao, China, to gather insights into the Chinese wood sector and explore its potential appetite for South African sawn lumber. It was an eye-opener, to say the least. Coming face-to-face with the scale and dynamism of the Chinese market was something else. China’s first preference is to import logs and process them domestically. However, since that’s not always possible, they import vast quantities of lumber, with the biggest suppliers being Russia, Canada, the USA, and Germany.
Unfortunately, as we’ve seen before in markets like Australia, South Africa’s lumber dimensions don’t align with international standards. Most of the world, including China, uses metric dimensions, while we’ve stuck with the imperial system. This decision, made years ago to protect our local market, seems to be catching up with us now. But all is not lost. The Chinese market is so large and diverse that I’m convinced there’s a niche for South African sawn timber. Finding it, however, will require patience, persistence, and a lot of hard work from the collective of sales people within our member base.
One interesting observation is that many Chinese companies have government or party representatives on their boards, which means close cooperation with the Department of Trade, Industry, and Competition (dtic) and DIRCO would be essential for forging ahead. There’s also a strong appetite to foster trade within BRICS, which plays into our favour as part of China’s national strategy.
For those sawmillers interested and able to act quickly, the China International Import Expo (CIIE) is coming up this November. It’s a biennial expo focused on trade with Chinese companies. While it might be too short notice for us to get involved this year, I believe we should work closely with the dtic to ensure that the South African sawmilling sector has a presence at the next expo.
There’s so much more I could say about the Chinese market, but I’ll leave it here for now. If anyone would like to discuss this further, feel free to give me a call.
FSCC marks 15 years of fostering transformation
Wednesday 9 October will see the Forest Sector Charter Council commemorating its 15th anniversary. The event will be hosted in Sandton. If you would like to attend, please let know as there are limited seats.
Events past and upcoming
Earlier this month, the 2024 Timber Construction Conference took place at Future Africa in Pretoria. This annual event is organised by the University of Pretoria in partnership with the dtic and the Pretoria Institute for Architecture (PIA), and York Timbers. The programme, directed by “our very own” Samantha Choles, featured a wide array of speakers and topics and generated a lot of discussion, knowledge-sharing and networking.
I am told that the total number of unique participants for the colloquium and the conference more than doubled with about 477 unique registrations. Dr Schalk Grobbelaar said what he enjoyed about the event was that it was clear that various people connected with others, whether they were familiar or new.
I highly recommend that you SAVE THE DATE for the 2025 edition: 8 and 9 September
UPCOMING EVENTS
- TALKING TIMBER WEBINAR 2024 – It will take place on 31 October and will focus on the changing face of the built environment. WATCH THIS SPACE.
- GREEN BUILDING CONVENTION – Sawmilling South Africa along with key industry players and academia will be part of a timber corner. This will be a great opportunity to promote timber to the construction and building sector!
5 – 7 November 2024 | Century City Conference Centre
As always I end with my motto: cutting straight and dry flat!
Cheers,
Roy Southey
Executive Director: Sawmilling South Africa