A leading UK Latvian timber agent says the suspension of Latvia State Forests’ (LVM) FSC certificate was “a bit of a crisis”, but not a cause for panic.
Kevin Hayes of AKZ Timber Ltd, which represents the AKZ sawmill in Aizkraukle and supplies 100% FSC material, said that it had already contacted customers to reassure them about supply.
“Clearly it is a concern, and a couple of customers did immediately call when the news broke,” he said. “But we’ve assured people that for the forseeable future we can continue to provide FSC timber on the basis of logs in stock or committed to. We can also buy certified logs from other sources if the need arises, although, of course, we’d rather the LVM certificate problems were resolved sooner rather than later.”
He said that Latvian producers, through the Exporters’ Association, had taken the issue seriously and were meeting LVM this week in an effort to clarify and progress the situation.
“Clearly in the current climate, when supply is tight generally, any additional pressure can affect the wider market,” he said.
He added that the suspension of LVM’s FSC certificate had come as a “shock” to the Latvian timber sector.
“The Latvian government is very proud of its forestry record and was ahead of the game in terms of certification. It’s also a surprise because in Latvia generally administration is so correct and the tendency, if anything, is to go over and above in dotting the i’s and crossing the t’s.”
If the certification problem takes longer to resolve than anticipated, he said, there was also the possibility of Latvian mills “going the PEFC route”.
“The message we’re getting from customers is that they want certified timber,” he said. “And that’s what we’ll supply.”
