This was the message from John Brownlie, deputy chairman of BSW Timber, to the annual lunch of The Timber Trade Federation International and UK Suppliers’ Division.
“Our industry is in an immensely strong position to play the sustainability card and increase the use of wood at the expense of less sustainable products, notably steel and concrete,” he said. “We also have the wonderful opportunity of the 2012 London Olympics which could not only generate business in the short term, but also be used to create a greater wood culture in the UK.”
But to realise this market potential, said Mr Brownlie, the industry needed to promote its product and increase its lobbying activities.
“Many companies already contribute, but it’s worth saying to those which don’t that these initiatives need money and they need it now,” he said. “You can support the Wood for Good [advertising campaign], or if you don’t want to do that, you can support some other promotional activity. The money you commit will be handsomely returned.”
To stengthen its environmental credentials, Mr Brownlie also urged the TTF membership to “support the discipline” of The Federation’s Code of Conduct and said that its Responsible Purchasing Policy for ensuring sustainable timber sourcing should be “rigorously applied”.
This view was echoed by the guest speaker at the lunch Mark Plews, TTF vice-president and managing director of UCM Timber plc. The environmental criteria for buying and selling timber were attracting increasing attention from government, he said, so it was important the industry demonstrated it was proactive in this area. “The RPP has to be enacted and we must support and sign up to it,” he said.
Looking at the immediate prospects in the market, Mr Plews predicted that the next 18 months could see price rises of 30-40%.
“Demand for timber currently outstrips supply and prices are going up,” he said. “I recently heard the comment that we’re back to 1972 in terms of our ability to make money.”
