TIMCON members convene to share supply concerns

The strong turnout, which included representatives from sawmills and pallet and packaging manufacturers from across the UK and Ireland, was attributed to the significance of the overarching theme of the meeting – timber supply.

As reported in TTJ on many occasions, timber supply shortages are biting worldwide and across all industry sectors.

Anecdotal evidence shared outside the meeting suggested that some sawmills could be losing up to 1,000m3 per week because they are unable to source sufficient timber. And, further afield, TIMCON president John Dye told delegates he had recently attended the National Wood Pallet and Container Association’s Annual Leadership Conference in Fort Lauderdale and that supply problems had dominated the conversation there.

Mr Dye updated members on recent developments regarding Brexit, including TIMCON’s lobbying efforts with government over how the pallets and packaging sector will deal with ISPM 15 after the UK leaves the EU. While the results of those conversations can’t be shared yet, he said it was encouraging that the government now saw TIMCON as the voice of the sector.

Similarly, he described work with the Health & Safety Executive, which had also recognised the confederation’s key role and had invited TIMCON to put together a sub-committee, enabling it to have some input on pallet machinery regulations.

Presentations to TIMCON members around global supply included “Timber flows: a global perspective” by Heikki Vidgren at Pöyry Consulting; the 2016 report into timber packaging by Guy Watt of John Clegg Consulting; and the challenges and opportunities within the UK domestic timber supply sector, by Andrew Heald of Confor.

In addition, Willy Bijen, of KARA and Bes Bollman advised delegates how they could make the most of the timber they could source by improving energy efficiencies through heat recovery.

Further coverage of the meeting will appear in a forthcoming issue of TTJ.