TIMBER
TOGETHERNESS B
CHAMPIONING Getting closer to your timber suppliers
has business benefits in changing times, says David Hopkins, CEO of the Timber Trade Federation.
ob Marley knew a thing or two about togetherness when he sang about getting together so we can “feel all right”. After a worrying year for business, we could all do with more of a feeling or security. I’m therefore going to champion more togetherness, encouraging merchants to keep in regular contact with timber suppliers over the next few months, as we pass through Brexit Transition and into a global economy, where demand for timber products is already at an all-time high. Even with a strong tradition of British-grown supplies, some 60% of general carcassing, structural timbers including CLS, and PAR timbers are imported. Factors beyond what’s happening here in Britain thus play a significant part in the supply situation. Wood has been recognised globally as one of the speediest methods of housing construction, as well as for its ability to lock away CO2. Overseas demand, already strong before lockdown here in March, has been vastly increased by the pandemic, with DIY projects still creating additional need. These factors, alongside challenges such as the damage done by the Spruce Bark Beetle as it moves north across Europe, plus lowered stock levels
at sawmills, have come together to create shortages in some of the product categories that are the baseline of merchant sales. International timber demand has also soared as business, architecture and environmental activism have all recognised its climate change benefits, aesthetics and its contribution to human wellbeing. Demand in the USA has been exceptionally high, though if this cools a little then forecasts suggest the UK supply situation will improve, yet not until the end of Q1, 2021. Products such as OSB and structural plywood are also on longer lead times, whether for UK-produced or imported material. The days of ‘just in time’ deliveries are increasingly becoming something of the past.
Planning ahead will be the order of the day for some time to come. Larger merchants,
who’ve been able to order substantially ahead, are receiving their allocations and products are coming in. High demand from the wood- using manufacturing industries and from major contractors and housebuilders is also squeezing supply. Merchants who take a short-termist approach to ordering will find it increasingly difficult to locate immediate supplies of key products going forward. Orders for engineered products, such as I-Joists, metal web joists, CLT and Glulam, are experiencing lesser delays. There is further light at the end of the tunnel, too. Joinery softwoods and hardwoods are available on shorter time frames, along with MDF and particleboard flooring and more generalist plywoods. Additionally , looking past the end of Brexit transition, suppliers anticipate few delays, as only a minimal volume of timber comes over on RoRo from the continent. Most arrives by sea on dedicated vessels, creating less customs processes than smaller containers. Motor manufacturer Henry Ford once said: “If everyone is moving forward together, then success takes care of itself”. So create a little togetherness with your timber supplier by communicating regularly and, above all, by planning your needs ahead. BMJ
26
www.buildersmerchantsjournal.net December 2020
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