Cross-channel trader

Summary
• Ducerf has sold oak to the UK for more than a decade.
• The company has developed a range of further processed products.
• Sales in the UK are handled by Danzer UK.
• Ducerf was the first French sawmill to gain PEFC certification.

Ducerf’s commitment to the UK market is clear. The sawmill business, one of France’s best-known oak suppliers, has been exporting here for 15 years. It has landed stock in Liverpool and recently invested in processing equipment to supply square-edged product specifically for British customers. It has also gained a growing UK following for its further-processed, value-added products, including worktops and window components.

“The UK is definitely important for us,” said import/ export director Florence Perrucaud. “Our sales have grown year on year and we see potential for development. Our oak has a particular appeal for the UK restoration and refurbishment sectors because we can supply wide, long boards that are more difficult to get from eastern Europe and other white oak sources.”

Ducerf processes 40,000 oak logs a year at its three mills

Established in the 19th century and still in family ownership after four generations, Ducerf processes 40,000 oak logs a year at its three mills, giving annual sawn timber output of 15,000m³. Its main 10ha site in Vendenesse-les-Charolles in Burgundy also includes 800m³ and 1,400m³ conventional and pre-kilning units, providing annual drying capacity of 11,000m³.

Abundant supplies

Besides, the quality and large dimensions, a key selling point for its oak is the sheer abundance of the species in France, the company maintains.

“International demand for sawn oak is increasing and supply elsewhere in Europe is not that abundant,” said Ms Perrucaud. “France is the Continent’s biggest single supplier, with annual production of 950,000m³, so we can offer availability. In this market, that is key.” At its main mill, she added, where Ducerf has 20,000m³ of undercover storage, it holds on average 10,000m³ of oak boules, 4,000m³ of ‘selected boards’ and 1,000m³ of beams.

The company believes another sales hook for its oak, particularly with UK customers, is its environmental credentials. “French forestry has been well managed for centuries and we were the first sawmill in the country to gain PEFC certification,” said Ms Perrucaud. “We also have a scheme guaranteeing on special occasions to plant a tree for every 1m³ of timber a customer buys.” Ducerf is also a partner in the “Indisputable Key” programme, a €7.7m EU IT initiative to improve chain of custody traceability in the timber with the aid of electronic tagging and tracking technology.

The UK is Ducerf’s largest export market and its timber is sold here by Danzer UK, with landed stock held at Denholm in Liverpool.

Danzer UK managing director Ken Walsh said: “Ducerf has a very flexible approach, offering deliveries of mixed products. We stock oak boules from 26-100mm, in 50cm and up and 60cm and up diameters together with square-edged stock in 50mm, 65mm, 80mm and 100mm thicknesses. We also arrange direct deliveries, including cut-to-order beams.” Ducerf set up its square edge production facility in response to UK demand in 2006. The plant, at the company’s mill in north Burgundy, has capacity to process 800m3 a year and the operation also has a 160m3 kilning unit. A high proportion of output is 3m and longer.

“This product is mainly taken from boules and square edged after kiln-drying to avoid bending and bowing,” said Ms Perrucaud.

Added-value products

Danzer also handles products from Ducerf’s added value arm, Les Bois Profiles (LBP). The latter operates out of its other 4ha site and has an annual production of 10,000m³, with kilning capacity of 8,000m³. The range includes edge-glued and finger-jointed panels under the Patchwood and Panoplot brands targeted for use in furniture, worktops, interior fittings and staircases. Besides oak, these are produced in beech, ash, maple, cherry, iroko, sapele, sipo, mahogany and walnut, with certain species offered as PEFC certified, and some FSC.

Ducerf's annual sawn timber output is 15,000m3

“The square-edged market is competitive and the French are finding it challenging to keep up with eastern Europe,” said Mr Walsh. “Growth will come from the development of finger-jointed and edge-glued products and Ducerf has positioned itself well to supply this market.”

LBP’s Profileo range of window components are predominantly oak, but can be supplied in a range of hardwoods. Around 60% of LBP’s total output is exported, with a “high percentage” destined for the UK, where Danzer again handles sales. “While we have a mature market for LBP’s other added-value products, the window component market is in its infancy, but we expect to be a major player as it grows,” said Mr Walsh.

Ducerf, which employs 165 people, turned over €34m in the last financial year and is growing at 15% per year. The company predicts it will continue to expand at or above this rate and that demand in the UK will remain a key driver in that growth.

Mr Walsh believes more UK companies should consider buying French, particularly oak. “There’s a heavy demand for oak worldwide, in particular from China, so the UK cannot afford to ignore a mature, PEFC chain of custody source on our doorstep.”