David Cameron’s state of the nation address this week was meant to inspire us all to set our jaws and stand shoulder to shoulder through the age of austerity (already being abbreviated to AoA). But essentially it seemed to translate as prepare yourselves for the worst and downgrade your expectations from there. Overall it left me feeling even more relieved I was able to get to the Carrefour International du Bois (CIB) timber show in France last week and insulate myself with a bit of its positivity.
The exhibition in Nantes is now really living up to its billing as an international event, with exhibitors and visitors drawn from 60 countries. As a consequence it has become an increasingly good bell-wether for the state of the global timber market.
People were not dancing in the aisles, but the consensus was that business was on the mend after a dismal 2009. One exhibitor said trade was “still short-term and difficult to forecast”, but that the key issue was now production and supply rather than demand.
It may still be lagging behind, but there were signs too of improvement on the supply side. For instance, a leading tropical hardwood supplier said it had restarted production at all the West African sites it mothballed when the market hit rock bottom last year.
Besides an increase in attendance, another indicator of rising confidence in the industry was the level of new product launches at the show. These ranged from an ultra-durable ground-contact glulam, to an open web timber and OSB I-joist, thermo-treated acacia decking and a finish for interior cladding claimed to be so natural you could drink it – I declined, however.
Another positive from the exhibition are reports (as yet unconfirmed) of a rise in UK visitors. Among them were representatives of the new Timber Expo show, scheduled for September 27-28, 2011 in Coventry. If they can capture some of the spirit of the CIB, they’ll definitely have an event for UK timber to look forward to through the AoA.
