S. African Timber Exporters See Window of Opportunity
8/25/99
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Title: S. African Timber Exporters See Window of Opportunity
Source: Environment News Service
Status: Copyright 1999, contact source for permission to reprint
Date: August 25, 1999
PIETERMARITZBURG, South Africa, August 25, 1999 (ENS) - Europe's
timber imports from the Nordic market last year matched the previous
year's volume of 5.4 million cubic metres of pine, including planed
goods. Import volumes are expected to be sustained this year, opening
a window of opportunity for southern African exporters, according to
a market analysis by South African companies Wood SA & Timber Times
and Crickmay, Erasmus & Associates (Pty) Ltd.
South African timber firms sell mainly products milled from Cape pine
and eucalyptus.
Sappi Forest Products, South Africa's leading paper and pulp
manufacturer, exported its first shipment of surplus pulp logs to
Europe on July 9.
The shipment consists of 35,000 tons of Eucalyptus logs shipped to
Portugal for the manufacture of kraft pulp.
Grown mainly in the South African province of Mpumalanga, the wood
comes from tree farms recently awarded ISO 14001 certification.
According to Jonathan Pearse, Sappi Forests Products' timber export
marketing manager, the export deal will not only benefit Sappi, but
will ease pressure on the local timber market following a general
oversupply of hardwood in South Africa in recent times.
The European Timber Trade Federation (FEBO) reported that three
groups of products were in high demand and produced above-average
results in 1998. These were board materials, wooden floors and wooden
garden products.
The weak trend in the volume of new construction projects was offset
by a marked increase in renovation and redevelopment schemes in
Europe.
The federation expects the "cocooning" trend, where people invest in
living space, to continue for the next few years. Expectations are
that there will be a return to natural products and that wooden
windows, doors and especially wooden floors could feature strongly in
interior decorating.
Although the first three months of 1999 were tough, with sales
declining, FEBO is still cautiously optimistic about prospects for
the European timber industry for the rest of the year.