For those steeped in the timber products trade and particularly plywood, the name Lavrasul (Compensados E Laminados Lavrasul SA) will be a familiar one.
The Brazilian plywood manufacturer has been supplying its plywood products to the UK for many decades. The name of Isac Zugman, Lavrasul partner and board member, will be known to many, with the company regularly attending the annual London dinners of Timber Development UK (and the Timber Trade Federation before TDUK was formed) and also at other timber trade events, with UK representative Mike Ferrett often in attendance.
Lavrasul was founded in 1950. Its production line currently includes plywood, doors, frames and other wood derivatives. It participates in the main national and international wood quality programmes and is a pioneer in Brazil in the implementation of a structural testing laboratory for the European Community and the United States.
The manufacturer operates two plants in Brazil, both in the northern state of Santa Catarina. One is at Canoinhas and the other in Timbo Grande.
“Lavrasul is a company that has first and foremost been an innovator in creating the Brazilian plywood industry that UK buyers, especially those of a certain age, know and appreciate going back as far as the 1970s,” said Mr Ferrett.
Lavrasul was selling pine plywood to various UK clients as early as 1984, being well-known for plywood, blockboards and door blanks.
Lavrasul was the first plywood manufacturer in Brazil to get FSC certification (Forest Stewardship Council) and holds EN13986 (CE) certification.
The company celebrated 20 years of FSC certification in 2024. Twenty years before, it had stopped working with native species to focus on plantation wood.
Also at that time – in 2004 – TTJ reported on an event where leading UK builders’ merchant Travis Perkins took delivery of its first shipment of FSC-certified and CE-marked elliottii pine plywood from Lavrasul, which had been a trading partner of Travis Perkins since 1987.
The product launch was attended by Lavrasul partner and board member Isac Zugman, with Travis Perkins stating that CE marking provided the quality assurance that customers wanted.
Lavrasul was instrumental in developing laboratory practice in the plywood industry. In fact, it says it became the first wood-based producer to have its laboratory approved by an EU third party certification agency.
Technology and product development tend to go hand-in-hand at Lavrasul, so modern production processes and research are constantly being developed.
GLOBAL MARKETS
Today, Lavrasul is selling its products to five continents and over 40 countries.
It is not widely known by UK buyers that considerable volumes of Lavrasul’s production are exported to Mexico for packaging and other industrial uses.
The customer base in the nearby Caribbean is a mixed blessing. With Lavrasul’s proximity to the region, it is a natural local market for selling plywood to industry and construction, including housing. The area’s natural propensity to storms and the hurricane season means plywood products are key in building protection and rebuilding efforts.
Lavrasul has a large presence in Europe – from Greece in the south, to Finland in the north.
The company approaches each country as an individual local market needing different requirements.
In a play on words of a familiar saying, the company’s motto is “we say what we do and do what we sell”.
“Even if it’s not what the clients wants to hear, it’s better he hears bad news quickly than be left in doubt,” explained Mike Ferrett.
“Lavrasul is known to say yes when it can [provide a service/product] and no when it can’t. The company is up front and informative with the clients.”
As for the UK, Lavrasul says it has always tried to support the market here in good and difficult times.
It was one of the first Brazilian plywood mills with UKCA certification ((BS) EN 13986: 2004 +A1:2015) and will continue. Lavrasul says it has been compliant with the EU Timber Regulation and is prepared to follow with all adherences to the new EUDR.
Ecovadis is a third-party certifier that looks at the whole Lavrasul operation to see everything meets relevant standards, whether that is labour, environment, legality, information protection or carbon footprint. For Lavrasul’s client stakeholders, Ecovadis provides an audit which many clients wish to have.
“In today’s world this is becoming an absolute essential company requirement,” said Mr Ferrett.
The company also says it is working towards achieving adherence to the EU EPD (Environmental Product Declaration) initiative, currently being in the external auditing phase.
As to logistics, Lavrasul says it is not in the habit of switching from market to market, in terms of not chasing after bull markets in other regions when existing established markets are performing more poorly. Keeping key client relationships irrespective of market conditions and having strong partnerships with freight forwarders and shipowners are high in the list of importance.
“Our export team is very proficient, efficient and respected by the logistic world, getting preferential treatment from shipping lines and logistic brokers no matter what INCO term the sale is negotiated in,” it said.
Lavrasul says it has a declaration of production on every shipment and is keen to work with key strategic partners who broadly are on a similar path and share similar values.
“To this end we have tried to develop products with partners to the mutual benefit of all.
“We would say to prospective clients that if you’re looking for an historic company manufacturing to and adhering to the standards and regulations in business both locally and globally, then perhaps it’s Lavrasul that may tick your boxes.”
The company says it is optimistic about future trading potential, despite global market uncertainties in recent years. Its financial results for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2023, showed that it found markets challenging in 2023 due to international geopolitical issues, as well as the volatility on the Brazilian domestic economy.
Similar issues have been experienced by many global plywood manufacturers – high interest rates, combined with other economic factors in the Northern Hemisphere, especially in the US, the UK and Europe, leading to a sharp drop in demand for plywood. The drop in demand and the imbalance between supply and demand caused a sharp drop in prices, especially in the second half of 2023.
Lavrasul’s management responded to the situation by adapting its production structure to the new reality.
The company says the difficulties from 2023 have been turned into a positive margin in 2024 and it now has more positive expectations for future export and Brazilian domestic markets.
