BSW begins major exports from Fort William
11 December 2012BSW has begun exporting sawn timber to North Africa direct from the UK as part of a new deal to supply one of Egypt’s largest timber distributors from Scotland.
The UK's largest sawmilling business shipped 6,500m3 of KD sawn timber to Alexandria. It was supplied from its Fort William mill, which is next to a specially adapted freight facility along the shore of the west coast sea loch, Loch Linnhe, operated by Clydeboyd.
The timber was previously supplied from BSW's Latvian mill.
The company said the deal is part of a continued UK export programme, which has included the loading of containers for Dubai from BSW's Dalbeattie mill.
BSW has significantly expanded and upgraded its Fort William operation as part of a £37m investment during the past three years. Its new mill on the former site of paper manufacturer Arjo Williams is expected to be fully operational in the spring.
"Timber is currently supplied to Egypt from BSW's Latvian mill. Following our investment programme the concept of export from the UK is something we have been considering for some time," said BSW export manager Simon Buttress.
"Earlier this year 300m3 of timber was successfully sent from the UK as a trial and we hope to be able to continue to export timber to key North African markets such as Egypt in the future.
"This is the first time such a significant quantity of timber has been sent as sea freigfht from the Fort William mill and represents an exciting future business opportunity."
