Certified sales defy recession

Summary
• UK sawmills’ consumption of certified softwood roundwood rose to 81.2% in 2008.
• All UK-produced panel products were certified in 2008.
• PEFC’s share of UK-produced and imported timber and panel products rose to 32%, the FSC’s to 52%.
• One in three customers specify certified products.

The Timber Trade Federation (TTF) has recently published a DfID-funded report, plotting the development of timber certification in the UK over the last three to four years. Focusing on statistics for 2008, it has revealed that more certified timber was sold in the UK during that year than in any previous year.

Although the timber industry has been confident over the last few years that an increasing volume of its products sold were certified, the extent of product certification, especially in the import and trading sector, remained unclear.

Certification in the UK is provided by the Programme for the Endorsement of Forest Certification Schemes (PEFC), the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC), the Sustainable Forestry Initiative (SFI), the Canadian Standards Association (CSA) and the Malaysian Timber Certification Scheme (MTCS).

In 2009, the TTF commissioned a study to measure the development of certification in the UK for the year 2008 and determine how the incidence of certification is likely to change. This work was also required to report on how certification had changed since the first report of this kind was produced, covering the year 2005.

The TTF wanted to ensure a clear understanding of the availability of certified materials for the benefit of securing more and better-informed timber and panel products specification.

The objectives of the certification study, conducted in 2009 for the year 2008, were:

• to quantify certified softwood roundwood, sawn timber and panel products available from recognised schemes within the major sectors of the timber industry in the UK for the year 2008, compare this to the results of the previous study for 2005 and, also, to indicate how certification might have developed into 2009;

• to estimate the quantity of certified timber available from recognised certification schemes and provide a comparison of how the main certification schemes have developed between 2005 and 2008;

• to assess the effect that the 2012 London Olympic Games were having on the working practices of companies appointed to the Olympic Delivery Authority’s (ODA) Timber Supply Panel.

Certification increase

The key messages from this survey, which polled the views of 76 companies, were that, without exception, the level of certification for all timber and panel products from UK producers and importers grew in 2008.

Specifically, the certified proportion of the 8.18 million tonnes of softwood roundwood harvested in the UK in 2008 grew to 83.9%, from a level of 80.5% in 2005. And, in overall terms, the certified proportion of the 14.4 million m³ of timber and panel products produced by and imported into the UK in 2008 grew to 83.6% – from a level of 66.7% in 2005. (The proportions of certified material from the forest and from UK production and imports are shown in the graph above).

Within the private sector, the harvest of certified softwood roundwood increased from 61% in 2005 to 68% in 2008.

The level of consumption of certified softwood roundwood by UK sawmills rose to 81.2% in 2008, from 76.2% in 2005. Certified production from UK sawmillers also increased – to 75.4% in 2008 from 70.8% in 2005. For the smaller sawmills, certified softwood production has risen from 25% of this group’s total output in 2005 to 36% in 2008.

The proportion of UK produced certified panel products in 2008 was 100%, as in 2005.

In terms of imports alone, the level of certification of timber and panel products brought into the UK has risen from 55.8% in 2005 to 81.4% in 2008, with certified imported softwood lumber showing the fastest growth, rising from 58% of imports in 2005 to over 90% in 2008.

In terms of specific certification schemes within the UK, PEFC and FSC dominate, with each building on their strengths in their specialist areas.

The PEFC share of timber and panel products produced in the UK and imported rose to 32% in 2008, from 18% in 2005, while the share of FSC rose to 52%, from 48% in 2005. PEFC’s share of UK imports in 2008 was around 50% with FSC having a 30% share.

Supply and demand forecasts

The certified UK harvest was predicted to have grown to 85% in 2009, up from 83.9% in 2008.

The certified consumption of UK sawmillers was expected to rise to 83.1% in 2009 from 81.2% in 2008, while their output of certified timber was expected to rise to 76% in 2009 from 75.4% in 2008.

The certified share of all timber and panel products imports in 2009 was set to rise to 82.4% of the total, up from 81.4% in 2008.

Significant increases have been reported in the level of market demand for certified timber products: specific requests for certified goods from the customers of importers and distributors rising from around 10% of sales in 2005 to over 30% in 2008. This equates to one in three customers specifically demanding certified goods.

The Olympic effect

The report indicates that, to date, the 2012 London Olympics and the ODA’s appointment of the Timber Supply Panel have had the effect of raising the external profile of the corporate social responsibility of some ODA supply companies. However, as most of the companies on the panel only began supplying small volumes in 2009, the true effect is hard to calculate at present.

The original 2005 report concluded that there was a detectable “two-speed” development of imported certified timber and panel products, with a more rapid adoption and participation in certification taking place with larger suppliers (often selling to larger industrial and public sector users). This faster pace of development of the certification process was being driven by a growing requirement to provide proof that timber materials had been purchased from certifiable sources and this was especially important in areas of public procurement. Despite a continuation of a two-speed development in 2008, this latest study has revealed that the differences between larger and smaller companies, although still present, are less marked than they were.

This increasing awareness of certification from the customers of timber suppliers and the increasing percentage of imported certified goods – in all timber and panel products – is testament to the willingness and efforts made by timber and panel suppliers to provide goods that are not only fit for purpose, but have originated from sustainable and well-managed sources, for which evidence – through certification – has been provided.