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Above left: James Jones is focused on delivering its Durham redevelopment project Above right: FLS’s modernised Newton Tree Nursery is now capable of producing 19 million trees a year
What has remained of benefit to the British primary processors is the continuing price differential between imported and home- grown.
“British timber, particularly C16 graded
timber, has been competitively priced all year compared to imported C24,” said Mr Balfour. “The price differentials between C16 and C24 are at historically high levels making C16 a very attractive alternative. The major UK sawmillers all have latent capacity for kilning and grading and as a sector we are working together to promote the benefits of using more C16.”
James Jones is working on a joint campaign with Confor and Timber Development UK alongside BSW and Glennon Brothers to promote C16 as an alternative to C24 (see pp22-23). “As a sector we’re showing solidarity in communicating about what a robust and sustainable industry we operate in,” said Mr Brennan. “We’re really trying to communicate the messages consistently that we need to plant more productive woodland and that we all have the capacity and capability to produce more timber in the UK for domestic demand for construction. We’re hoping to get the minister Mary Creagh’s backing and really drive the importance of the timber industry in the UK – for rural jobs specifically but also for the wider economy and to meet sustainability objectives.”
With demand being less than stratospheric it follows that there haven’t been any issues regarding log availability. Concerns do remain about replanting levels, however. “One of the big issues for us is the species split when replanting is happening,” said Mr Gordon. “There has been a lot of disease over the last 5-10 years and it’s a problem for
landowners to know what species to plant. If they’re not putting in enough of the right productive forestry that then becomes our problem as processors down the line.” Anecdotally, he added that if a block of timber was felled, the level of restocking with productive timber species could be as low as 70%.
“The balance is native woodland, broadleaves and open ground,” said Mr Gordon. “That is a problem going forward. It’s nothing new but it’s an ongoing concern.” However, he noted that Forestry and Land Scotland’s (FLS) new glasshouse and growing facility at Newton Tree Nursery, near Elgin was very positive for the sector. The new facility, which opened on August 12, represents a significant investment by the Scottish government and FLS to complete a £26m transformation of Scotland’s only publicly managed tree nursery into a state- of-the-art facility, responding to one of the Scottish government’s four strategic priorities – tackling climate change.
The modernised facility is now capable of producing 19 million trees a year – up from seven million – and features a precision glasshouse, operations centre, cold stores, seed store, automated systems and sustainable infrastructure.
“It’s showing great joined up thinking and investing for the future,” said Mr Gordon. “It’s a long-term return but it’s the old story – when is the best time to plant a tree – 30 years ago; when is the second-best time – now.”
The BSW group is playing its part, too. Its subsidiary, Maelor Forest Nurseries, which is now part of Tilhill Forestry (along with Dick Brothers Harvesting) is working hard on improving tree genetics.
“We have one of only two seed orchards in the UK down at Maelor and we are self- sufficient in terms of Sitka spruce stock, so when it comes to species enhancement, we are well placed to look into where genetic gains can be made,” said Mr Brennan. Those gains could be growing trees that are stronger, or trees that grow more quickly so the rotation time is reduced, leading to a faster return on investment and freeing up more land for replanting.
Mr Brennan added that the Timber in Construction roadmap and the Welsh government’s recently released Timber Industrial Strategy were also very encouraging for the home-grown timber sector, joining the dots between forestry and end markets.
“They link more conifer planting with increased use of timber and production, which is really important,” he said. Back at the sawmills, processing is “generally tracking on budget in terms of production and stock levels”, according to Eddie Balfour, who added that lead times for most of James Jones’s products are good.
BSW is also “in a strong position” with stock levels at this time of the year and “about where you’d expect to see them”. “We are now looking at starting building inventory in specific product groups so that we are well placed for demand when it arrived next year,” said Mr Brennan. Production at Gordon Timber is up more
than 10% over the last year and the company is looking to grow that by another 20% over the next two years.
“The investments we made in the gang saw two years ago is giving us the throughput and sawn timber yield that we were hoping ►
www.ttjonline.com | September/October 2025 | TTJ
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