A tough economic environment combined with increased timber merchant/importer merger activity has led to the closure of the Irish Timber Trade Association (ITTA).
The organisation, which has been in existence for decades, has sent out a letter to the industry confirming it was “with great regret” that the ITTA ceased to operate from April 30.
A spokesperson said membership had reduced due to the current economic environment and because of company mergers in recent years. “Even when it was the boom times, there were quite a lot of company mergers,” said the spokesperson.
“And everyone is looking to reign n their spending at the moment.”
One Irish timber industry representative contacted by TTJ said an overall market decline of about 60% over the past few years had caused closures and mergers “and the few companies left are finding it very difficult with no growth forecast in the market until next year at the earliest”.
“Cash is short and all the remaining organisations are reluctant to commit to funds bodies such as the ITTA,” the representative said.
