64 | Sector Focus: Tropical Timber
SUMMARY
■NHG was established in 1981 ■It currently trades with 30-35 countries
■Major sources areas are West Africa, North America, Europe, the Far East and South America
■Its traders have a combined hardwood experience of over 100 years
AGENT OF CHANGE
Del credere agent NHG Timber operates globally, with its range including temperate hardwoods and clear softwoods. But it is perhaps particularly known for tropical timber. TTJ asked director Stuart McBride about developments and the role of an agent in this part of its business
TTJ: What have been latest changes at NHG? Stuart McBride: The business was established by Nick Goodwin in 1981. He retired in 2017 and it’s now run by Guy and Ben Goodwin and myself. In the last few years, we’ve increased the number of markets we sell to and last year employed Frenchman Vincent Audant, who specialises in veneers and sells all NHG products to southern Europe. We’ve increased our presence in South-east Asia too, sourcing more semi- finished products from there and selling worldwide, all thanks to our Far Eastern and European trader, Ben Jenn.
TTJ: How many countries does NHG trade with? SM: Since our inception the total is 65 countries. Currently the figure is 30-35. Our major source areas are West Africa, then North America, Europe, the Far East and South America. Only 50% of our sales are to the UK and Ireland, the balance goes to North America, Europe, the Middle East, South- east Asia and South Asia and we also cover some speciality sales in New Zealand and the Caribbean.
Above: Ben Goodwin
TTJ: What’s the strategy behind development of the markets you sell to and how do you reach new customers – through marketing, trade events, word of mouth? SM: We use all three. And we go for “harder” countries where some suppliers would often fear to trade directly, such as Pakistan and India. Personally visiting markets is also a must. Recently, we’ve added Spain and Italy too.
TTJ | November/December 2022 |
www.ttjonline.com
TTJ: What have been latest moves in your timber and wood products range? SM: We’ve added veneers from Gabon and Cameroon, semi-finished products such as decking, truck flooring and laminated timber from the Far East, and thermally modified African species processed in Europe.
TTJ: Tropical supplier countries are focusing on development of their further processed timber products industries. Do you see these products becoming a more important part of your portfolio? SM: Yes this is inevitable, but it’s a much slower trend than anyone has ever forecast. It needs a stable investment environment, and tropical forestry is not really that yet. Having said that, it is the future and we are pleased to encourage it, not least because more of the added-value remains in the country of origin.
TTJ: How has the tropical side of the business performed recently? SM: Supply has been challenging, shipping even more so. Contract lead times are long, and managing this when supply has been disrupted and freight rates skyrocketed has been a challenge. But we did not see the spike in prices from West Africa that we saw from other regions – the markets take time to change.
Even now, with price weakness elsewhere in the world, this is not necessarily true of West African supply. Fundamentally, there is a lack of well-financed suppliers willing to deal with the high operational costs and risks of operating in Africa, plus deal with the legality issues, so this will continuously limit viable supply. Demand has generally been
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