As a wood scientist I am concerned that the photo of discoloured timber illustrating the Baltics market report could mislead people into believing that the deep penetration of blue stain as seen, had occurred purely due to a couple of weeks’ delay in storage of the packages at the port.
In my experience, such deeply-penetrating sapstain (fully discolouring all the sapwood) usually only occurs in logs which have been stored for extended periods (ie several months) at the sawmill prior to conversion. It would be a very untypical period of storage – and very bad storage conditions, too – which could lead to such deep blue-staining in packages only standing on the quayside for a while, whatever the weather conditions.
I believe that such a point requires clarification, in order to avoid costly misunderstandings relating to possible future claims.
Jim Coulson
Director
Technology For Timber Ltd
