{"id":79436,"date":"2020-06-28T09:11:24","date_gmt":"2020-06-28T09:11:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/tin.happy-projects.ro\/cautious-optimism-uk-hardwood-market\/"},"modified":"2025-09-19T08:53:36","modified_gmt":"2025-09-19T08:53:36","slug":"cautious-optimism-uk-hardwood-market","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.timberindustrynews.com\/ro\/cautious-optimism-uk-hardwood-market\/","title":{"rendered":"Cautious optimism in UK hardwood market"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

Insights into the status of the UK sawn hardwood market came from a webinar organised by the London Hardwood Club in early June, featuring speakers from the UK tropical import sector alongside American and European hardwood producers.<\/em><\/p>\n

The event, which attracted 48 participants, covered pandemic impacts, species supply and demand trends, UK market acceptance of further processed hardwood products and market outlook.<\/p>\n

Despite the COVID 19 lockdown measures, in place now in the UK for nearly two months, there are some more positive signs emerging in the UK hardwood market. Several seminar participants said that the market remained \u2018some way off the norm\u2019, but that business was picking up.<\/p>\n

\u201cAt the start of the Covid-19 lockdown we were looking at the sharp end of doing very little at this point and in April sales were down 60-65%,\u201d<\/em>\u00a0said one importer.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\u201cBut through May into June we\u2019ve seen renewed activity and we\u2019re now back to around 60% of normal levels.\u201d Another said they had gradually upped activity: \u201cWe closed for two or three weeks, but now we\u2019ve got 50% of staff working. We don\u2019t see sales returning to 100% in the near future, but we hope to have all our people back by the end of the government furlough programme in October.\u201d Focusing on West African supply, Guy Goodwin of NHG said that, bar a temporary shutdown in Ghana, the pandemic had not to date significantly hit production.<\/p>\n

Prices for red hardwoods also remained firm, underpinned by renewed buying in China and Vietnam.<\/p>\n

Mr Goodwin anticipated mills \u2018in the tiers below mainstream producers\u2019 being most affected by wider contraction in demand, leading to some price cutting. Cancelled orders had also seen some \u2018distressed parcels\u2019 coming on to the market.<\/p>\n

However, he did not anticipate the tropical price slump and capacity contraction seen after the 2008 economic crash. \u201cMills learned the lesson from that and became more cautious and reactive to the market situation, so there\u2019s less over-production,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cAlso, many concession holders are at the end of 25-30- year harvest cycles, so forest being worked is less rich in commercial species. We expect this to keep prices firm, particularly for kiln-dried, certified, EUTR-compliant timber.\u201d<\/p>\n

For the European hardwood supply sector, Alex Boisson of Italian-based oak producer Florian Group, said the pandemic had reduced demand internationally and the outlook was uncertain.<\/p>\n

The Asian market was particularly hard hit and overall the post-pandemic so-called \u2018new norm\u2019 had yet to take shape. \u201cBusiness is moving, but not as we knew it,\u201d he said. \u201cRequests are day to day.\u201d<\/p>\n

Florian had faced mill operational challenges due to COVID-19, but its key concern was the three month shutdown in harvesting in Croatia and Hungary, where it also has mills in addition to those in Italy and France. Resulting tight supply was underpinning log prices, which, Mr. Boisson forecast, would lead to lumber price inflation, despite demand levels.<\/p>\n

He also said that it was imperative to develop the market for the \u2018central part of the log\u2019. Hardwood sawmills need to sell lumber from the entire thickness and grade spectrum of the log, both to turn a profit and avoid finished stock build up and associated bottlenecks and overheads.<\/p>\n

Demand for lower grade European lumber had been hit by the pandemic, notably in South East Asia and this compounded the effect of deterioration in European raw material quality.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn the last 10- 15 years European logs have declined in quality and diameter,\u201d said Mr. Boisson. \u201cPreviously the resource was yielding 30% A quality logs. Today that\u2019s down to 15-20%. We increasingly need to be creative and find an outlet for lower grades, perhaps through modification, or engineering and new applications. It\u2019s key to how we survive as sawmills.\u201d<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

On the UK, Mr. Boisson said there was more hardwood stock on the ground than elsewhere in Europe, the consequence of \u2018excess buying\u2019 prior to lockdown, with importers hedging against anticipated logistical problems.<\/p>\n

The market, he added, was also historically more resistant than European neighbours to value-added, further processed products. By contrast, German window producers, for instance, tended to use fingerjointed and laminated hardwood exclusively.<\/p>\n

This sentiment was echoed by a UK timber importer who noted that \u201cUK end users are conservative. They\u2019re wary of anything new and not particularly fashion-led.\u201d However, there were signs of UK end users coming around.<\/p>\n

Mr Boisson commented that \u201cfive years ago, our engineered exports to the UK were zero. Today they comprise 25% of the total. We expect the trend to continue and that we\u2019ll be selling less solid, thick lumber to the market.\u201d<\/p>\n

Speaker Dennis Mann, export sales manager of Baillie Lumber, a leading US hardwood exporter, emphasised that the poor prospects for lower grades was also a major issue facing the American hardwood industry. \u201cOur key challenge is what to do with the centre of the log. Right now, there\u2019s just no home for sleepers, cants, truck deck flooring, pallet timber, or chips for paper mills,\u201d said Mr Mann.<\/p>\n

\u201cA lot of these products are tied in with transportation of goods and as that\u2019s significantly reduced, so has demand.\u201d Mr. Mann suggested that as economies emerge from pandemic lockdown more widely, this industrial lumber logjam should gradually ease, but the timescale was uncertain and, while unresolved, it could cause further problems.<\/p>\n

Difficulties in moving lower quality material inevitably impact supply of better grades and Mr Mann predicted tightening supply in 1.5-2\u201d and thicker white oak in coming months.<\/p>\n

Turning to the UK, Mr. Mann said it had not only remained the U.S. hardwood sector\u2019s biggest European market, and fourth biggest export market overall, it was also among its most consistent. Its annual U.S. imports averaged around $83 million for the last four years, comprising 75-80% white oak, tulipwood and walnut. One question from a webinar participant was on future supply of American ash given the emerald ash borer infestation. Mr Mann responded that there were still areas of pest-free forest, particularly away from roads. \u201cTen years ago we thought it would all be gone by now,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cToday we estimate there\u2019s still another three to five years supply of viable, unaffected timber.\u201d Mr. Mann was also asked about U.S. supply of FSCcertified and said demand for it was mainly from the UK.<\/p>\n

\u201cFSC requests are 90- 95% UK, with inquiries monthly. From elsewhere we\u2019ll get two or three every few months.\u201d One importer saw increasing prospects for modified temperate hardwoods to widen applications for less durable material. \u201cWe\u2019ve done a number of successful projects in thermally modified U.S. tulipwood, with another significant one in the pipeline,\u201d they said. \u201cWe think it\u2019s got a good future.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Insights into the status of the UK sawn hardwood market came from a webinar organised by the London Hardwood Club in early June, featuring speakers from the UK tropical import sector alongside American and European hardwood producers. 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