22 | Sector Market Update: Hardwood
AFRICAN HARDWOOD EPDS
A project supported by the International Tropical Timber Technical Association (
www.atibt.org ), is undertaking life cycle analysis of Congo Basin value-added hardwoods and developing environmental product declarations (EPDs) for them. Called Dryades, the aim is to increase the products’ appeal in increasingly environmentally focused consumer markets. ‘Collective’ LCA is being undertaken for logs, undried sawn timber, dried sawn timber, marine/hydraulic wood, profiled product, glulam beams, veneer, and plywood, while EPDs are being developed for decking, cladding and joinery. A UK importer said more of their African suppliers were now providing EPDs.
“It’s suppliers of lumber, including sapele and utile, as well as engineered wood products,” they said. “For most customers it’s probably a ‘nice to have’ rather than a ‘must’. But plcs like it for corporate social responsibility reasons.” ■
Left: LCA report for Congo Basin decking
◄ Modified wood is also in the ascendant again, thanks largely to improvement in Accoya supply after expansion work at the Arnhem production facility temporarily reduced output. “We’re not back to previous peaks, but we’ve doubled monthly sales compared to the low point during the expansion work,” said an importer-distributor.
On the hardwood sector’s radar too, of course, is the EU Deforestation Regulation, which comes in for large EU businesses at the end of this year and six months later for SMEs. It covers all timber placed on the EU market and EU exports, stipulating that operators and larger traders undertake due diligence to ensure no goods are implicated in deforestation and forest degradation. That includes providing geolocation co-ordinates for their origin.
The general view is that there are still a lot of unknowns about the EUDR and particularly its implications for the UK.
There are reports that EU companies participating in piloting of the platform for uploading EUDR data were less than impressed. To put it to the test, one reportedly uploaded information for imports from Africa, but keyed in geolocation co-ordinates for the whole of Belgium as the origin. The system didn’t spot the discrepancy!
An importer raised the issue of Northern Ireland, which remains in the EU single market, and whether timber shipped there from Great Britain and not destined for transhipment to the Irish Republic would need EUDR conformance information. Another commented: “It will be interesting to see how the UK navigates the volume of West African hardwood which enters the market via trade kilns in the EU.” A further issue, said an importer- distributor, could be the impact on certified
TTJ | March/April 2024 |
www.ttjonline.com
timber supply. There is no ‘green pass’ for certified timber through the EUDR. But reports are that EU operators are seeing certification as a risk mitigation tool, particularly with the FSC and PEFC promising to “align” their schemes with the Regulation.
“So, will we see EU FSC certified timber demand rise, pushing up the cost? And will an unintended consequence be some UK customers opting not to pay the price and just going for legality verification to satisfy the UK Timber Regulation?”
Importers are also following developments in the US. Here, fragmentation of forest ownership is set to make providing geolocation co-ordinates for the origin of their timber exports to the EU extremely complex for sawmills, some say impossible. Consequently, the American Hardwood Export Council (AHEC) is working on a validation system based on legality risk assessment, data, and satellite technology to prove US hardwoods are not linked to deforestation. At present AHEC is only saying this is “potentially” a solution for EUDR conformance, given the EC will have to accept the approach. But, adds AHEC, it will also enable US hardwood suppliers to make a “global legality and deforestation-free claim”.
One importer stressed the importance of this work, with customers exporting into the EU already asking about availability of EUDR conformance information for US hardwoods.
So, the general view of the UK hardwood sector is that 2024 will be challenging, with “multiple significant issues to monitor”. “Interest rates are still 5.25%, household budgets are stretched, and government spend is down across the board,” said one importer-distributor, “so we need to be careful with inventory. Speculation can wait for another day.”
Above: American white oak in another price surge PHOTO: PETR KREJCI PHOTOGRAPHY
Another agreed, saying the multiple unknowns ahead made forecasting tough, but with the high cost of money and tight margins, smaller companies particularly could find life difficult. “We’ve done our budgets for 2024/2025 and with limited prospects for market growth, see nipping at competitors’ market share as one key strategy,” they said. “We won’t be jumping out the window, but we won’t be putting out the bunting either.” ■
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73
