Wood industry in the red?

“Wood is one of this world’s most valuable renewable commodities, but the TT wood industry treats it as if it were almost worthless,” says Peter Ebdon, a leading international consultant in timber drying.

The local wood producing and furniture industries must become more competitive if they are to survive, he believes. Ebdon, who is based in the United Kingdom (UK) was recently hired by Caribbean Business Services Limited (CBSL) to facilitate a timber drying seminar. Adherence to proper timber drying techniques is essential to the survival of the saw milling, joinery and furniture industries in Trinidad and Tobago, he said in a recent interview with Business Day. “Manufacturers who do not have properly dried wood will not be in a position to manufacture quality wood products.” This, he said, is essential for them to remain internationally competitive.” But he also described the industry as lethargic, stressing that as a result, a number of inferior products are being found on the local market.

Ebdon said that, TT’s Caribbean Pine  could be converted into “export quality lumber,” but only if it were correctlyhandled.  TT does not value its pine resource and prefers to squander countless millions importing pine from countries that take the trouble to process its felled tress correctly, he said. “Ask TT manaufacturers why they do not use locally grown pine for their products ?” he said, noting that many point out that TT’s pine is full of blue stain and their need white pine for they products. Ebdon said, however, that with a little effort theytoo could produce white pine”. “Blue stain” is a fungi that is very similar to the fungi that is found on decaying food such as bread.

He noted that if the pine was clean and free of blue stain, he would have tp pay top dollar for the product. On Trinidadian teak, he said much has been talked about over the years, about TT sitting on a gold mine. However, he noted that this country has never managed “to make it come good” because it has never valued the commodity. “Whilst teak is a wood, it should be considered as gold and treated accordingly.”

William Vernon, a furniture specialist, recruited last year by CBSL to conduct two studies on  the local furniture industry, said in order for the furniture and wood industry to meet the challenges, it needs an environment facilitated by Government that will give it space to develop. Vernon’s study identifies the furniture industry’s inability to capitalise on indigenous materials such as teak, as the first cause of its downward spiral. He said the Forestry Division has done an excellent job in trying to conserve the natural forest. However, he noted that the teak industry has failed to generate the potential expected of it. The second problem facing the industry is competition from international producers who receive support to assist in the reduction of their unit cost. These include state subsidies at all levels in the processing chains — from raw material sourcing to export marketing, which provide the extra edge. Import levels rose well over 100 percent between 1997 and 2000, which accounted for over 50 percent of the local demand in mid 2002.

Ebdon is of the view that TT’s teak is still young and no tree should ever be harvested under 50 years of age. Once felled, it should be treated with considerable care and not just simply slashed up into boards at a sawmill without any regard to the most suitable cutting pattern that should be adopted. He noted that Europeans would rather take charge of the conversion of the logs themselves to obtain maximum yield, than allow Trinidadians to “butcher” its logs for them. As a consequence, he said, TT loses not only the added value created from the down stream processing of teak, but also the additional employment that it creates. “It is irrational and crazy.”

At present, China has seemingly, an unquenchable thirst for round logs, mainly because the Chinese government has now banned the felling of any tree within mainland China. As a consequence, China is now buying such logs from wherever it can lay its hands, including both Suriname and Guyana. He noted that Trinidadian logs may have found their way there also. As a result, he said, Caricom forests are being denuded of wood at an alarming rate. He said he  suspected that some of the wood that was originally exported to China is now finding its way back again as low cost furniture, thereby putting TT’s own domestic furniture industry at risk.

Ebdon said there should be a total export ban on round logs from any Caricom country, just as there is in many other tropical timber producing countries. At the same time though, he advised the wood industry of TT to wake up and start producing a much better quality product. Sheriff Faizool, director, Forestry Division, Ministry of Environment, agreed with Ebdon, saying that the quality of sawing and finishing, as well as the reliability of supply, timber certification and inadequate drying facilities must be addressed. Sawing quality, he said, depends upon proper saw-doctoring facilities. He said the lack of trained personnel with proper techniques regarding sharpening of saws, joining of broken blades and tensioning, have resulted in poor quality lumber. Faizool noted that most lumber used in the construction and furniture trades are sold on a ‘green’ basis. He explained that because of the insufficient drying facilities available locally, most lumber is air dried for varying periods. Due to the lack of proper equipment to monitor whether wood is properly dried, most wood finishing is of low to medium quality.

Independent bodies are being set up to certify that forests are sustainably managed and this costs money. He said that: “In the not too distant future, in order to continue exporting tropical timber and timber products from the forests of TT, we would have to be certified by the competent authority that our lumber and forest products are emanating from sustainably managed forests.” Faizool said another matter which wouldimprove this country’s competitiveness is if it speaks with one voice. TT manufacturers have called on the Trade and Industry Minister to intervene by way of imposing a tariff rate for a period of ten years on imported furniture and joinery products. Trade and Industry Minister Ken Valley, responded to the call and agreed to provide a five year period, on the condition that the industry develops a strategic plan to improve its competitiveness.

Other issues affecting the industry, Vernon said, included the lack of quality assurance systems; plant and equipment maintenance; product designs; plant layout and appropriateness of equipment and management information systems. Additionally, he said the TT furnishing industry does not do any worthwhile marketing. “It does not research the opportunities nor does it promote itself adequately.” He noted that retail selling access is dominated by a few large retail chains including Courts, Standards and American stores on which the manufacturers depend without any initiative of their own.

Vernon said while his results would appear to be, and are somewhat damning of the industry as a whole, they are not unusual for the scale of the industry involved. “It is a craft based industry, relatively easy to enter and with little outside controls. A similar survey of the furniture industry done in many developed countries would yield not dissimilar results.” However, he said, in a country facing the kind of competitive pressures that TT is facing from outside, it is vital that the industry learns to perform substantially better than the norm. He warned that if it fails to do so it will fail to survive.