The company said its first shipment of certified product from China, costing £200,000, will arrive in early April at Felixstowe.
EusaPly, which is chain of custody certified, said it took action to secure certified plywood because of concern in the trade about an increasing environmental impact on forests by timber products manufactured in China.
It also went the FSC route because of growing demand from its customers for products made from “wholly sustainable sources” and to comply with The Timber Trade Federation‘s code of conduct.
The company said four Chinese plywood mills now held FSC certification and it was sourcing from two of these.
“Getting forest management right is in the long term interests of the population and those associated with the trade,” said EusaPly director Raife Clarke. “Along with the ever-increasing demand by the environmental movement, EusaPly is committed to supporting the challenge of forest sustainability by responsible sourcing of logs for timber-based products.”
The company says about 60-75% of its plywood from China will be FSC-certified, but the plan is to cut down on the proportion of uncertified material.
Recently released figures by Timbertrends show one in every three sheets of plywood imported into the UK during 2006 was from China.
