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Sawmilling South Africa News
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Here we are already at the end of February and it seems as though it was only yesterday that we were wishing you all a happy New Year.
Well things have got off to a flying start, and no more so, than our interaction with Government. It would appear that the new wind that is blowing is certainly injecting some new enthusiasm into the officials.
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Last year it came to our attention that many of the new tenders being issued by various Government departments did not include timber as an alternative roof structural material in some building projects. This was a very worrying concern as the only sector of the building industry showing any growth at the moment was Government building. This prompted us to take the matter up with the departments who sat around the table with us at DAFF’s Forest Value Chain Forum. This in turn has resulted in the DTI calling a meeting between the various government departments, (Human Settlements, Public Works, National Treasury and Rural Development among others) and the industry associations associated with timber in the built environment, (SSA, ITC, SAWPA etc). This is an effort to convince these departments to make sure that timber is indeed an option on all future tenders and contracts.
This is not likely to happen overnight but it will be a start in the right direction. The meeting is scheduled for the 28th February at the DTI campus in Pretoria.
Other important news is that the association is taking up the serious matter of kiln emissions with the DEA. Members will recall that last year the DEA agreed to rewrite section 9.5 of the regulations pertaining to the AQA. This they did but they have made it even more confusing than before and this is why we are taking it up with the DEA and steeling ourselves for a legal battle on the matter. We are being assisted in this by Mrs Terry Winstanly of Winstanly Inc.
In the mean time should any of our members be approached by either the DEA and their provincial or local agents please feel free to contact us here at SSA and we will offer any advice or support we can.
News from the market place is that as expected, things are slow as the building industry eases it’s self into the year. No great shakes are predicted or expected this year so our advice is “steel yourselves for a tough ride in 19”
Some interesting good news coming from NMU (Saasveld) is that an Italian company has generously donated a three story building to the University campus which will be built entirely out of CLT and should form a great display of this revolutionary material right here in SA. Students and researchers will be able to observe the construction and will have a permanent example of the future of Green Construction under their noses. We will stay up to date on this project and keep you informed of progress, construction is expected to start some time in March.
So until next month keep cutting straight and drying flat and all should be dandy.
Roy Southey
Executive Director: Sawmilling South Africa
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Sawmillers in Ivory Coast build better lives with Wood-Mizer
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The Scierie Rama crew. With Wood-Mizer, everyone is now earning a salary to care for their families.
Wood-Mizer sawmills are opening the doors for sawmilling businesses in the Ivory Coast to prosper, timber factories to start up, and for the country’s natural forests to be protected better.
The journey from Abidjan towards the nation’s capital Yamoussoukro in the north, starts on the Autoroute du Nord.
It’s a busy road that leads from the city centre through busy traffic, businesses and traders that are ready to sell goods so that families can eat and life can go on.
Just off the autoroute and near the Les Brasseries Ivorienne, lies Scierie Rama. Managed by mill manager Sila Baba, the sawmill opened its doors to the public in 2017.
“It’s a tough life to be a sawmiller in Ivory Coast,” says Sila Baba.
“It’s hard work to move the logs, and we have to obey all the rules of the Societe de Developpements des Forets (SODEFOR). They control the country’s forests and sawmilling sectors,” Sila Baba continues.
The Ivory Coast is one of several West African countries that have imposed increasingly stricter regulations to protect and restore the country’s forests and to encourage replanting.
The country now has some 430 000 hectares of commercial plantations that contribute to log exports from the Ivory Coast.
The country’s timber sector is made of veneer, plywood and round log production, and also has an active sawmilling sector that produces close to 872 000 m³ of sawn timber per year for local consumption.
In the past, the Ivory Coast’s focus on log exports made sawmilling and furniture manufacturing difficult. The renewed importance of producing round logs for domestic use, has reinvigorated the sawmilling sector and Scierie Rama to build profitable sawmilling businesses in the Ivory Coast.
Scierie Rama – working to support families
“We started this sawmill in 2017,” says Sila Baba.
“We started small, but we now have three Wood-Mizer LT15WIDE sawmills, that we use to cut the large diameter hardwood logs that we get from SODEFOR into sawn timber. We work closely with government on what sizes they want us to cut.
“The Wood-Mizer sawmills help us to produce good quality sawn timber that we sell to the market. The machines cut straight and we don’t waste timber. Our customers buy from us because they know our timber is accurate, Sila Baba continues.
“We also have our own saw sharpening and setting equipment from Wood-Mizer that we use to maintain our blades. This helps us to save money and we don’t need to wait for sharp blades. This helps our production.
“We also use Wood-Mizer’s branch in Abidjan, that is managed by Solomon Opoku-Mensah to get spares and new blades. Solomon is always at the shop to make sure that we get what we need. We now don’t have to wait to get replacements parts and blades. We can now work harder and make more money.
“Most importantly, Wood-Mizer allows me to put food on the table for my family. That is the main reason why we leave so early and come back home late with something to feed everyone,” Sila Baba says.
About Wood-Mizer in Ivory Coast
Wood-Mizer has a wide dealership network in West Africa.
Dealerships in Ivory Coast, Ghana, Togo, Benin, Nigeria, Liberia and Senegal ensure that spares, blades, technical training and after sales support are available to sawmillers throughout the region.
After sales support is an important part of ensuring that sawmillers can grow sawmilling businesses in Africa.
The company’s dealership in West Africa allow sawmillers to focus on growing their businesses instead of worrying about support.
The Wood-Mizer product range provides for entry level, affordable sawmills through to heavy duty industrial capacity sawmills. This makes it possible to start and then grow the sawmill as the sawmiller can afford it.
Blade maintenance equipment cut costs further and sawmillers can sharpen and set their own blades instead of having to pay a supplier to do this.
The company also recently released a new range of machines for furniture manufacturing. The range is focussed on delivering affordable, durable manufacturing tools that sawmillers and manufacturers can use to rework sawn timber into finished product.
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Solomon Opoku-Mensah is Wood-Mizer’s dealership manager in Abidjan. Scierie Rama relies on his fast and efficient service for the mill to always work.
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The modern, 11kW electric motors fitted on the LT15’s and narrow bandsaw blades that need less electricity to cut, has lowered Scierie Rama’s electricity bill for them to cut more profitably.
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Scierie Rama started off small and now has three LT15WIDE sawmills to cut tropical hardwoods into high value sawn timber for customers.
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An LT15WIDE slicing through timber with a thin kerf narrow bandsaw blade. The blade wastes less timber with more timber to sell. Scierie Rama maintains its own blades to cut costs further.
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Wood-Mizer – from forest to final form
For more information, visit www.woodmizerafrica.com
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Starrett and First Cut – ‘cut out’ for a prosperous future thanks to shared ethos of quality and service excellence
Starrett and their South African representative First Cut have enjoyed a remarkable 40-year-long partnership. The former, a world-renowned and leading manufacturer of industrial blades and metrology equipment and the latter, South Africa's foremost distributor of cutting...read more
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Local authorities key in enforcing National Building Regulation A19
The Institute for Timber Construction South Africa (ITC-SA), the South African Qualifications Authority (SAQA) accredited professional body for the engineered timber construction sector in South Africa, has successfully developed an inspectorate process to assist...read more
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ECSA Voluntary Association recognition for ITC-SA
The Institute for Timber Construction South Africa (ITC-SA), South Africa’s professional body for the engineered timber construction sector, has been recognized as a Voluntary Association in line with the newly-gazetted Voluntary Associations Recognition Framework, which came into effect in 2018. read more
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DTI Stakeholder Workshop - 28 February 2019
The Department of Trade & Industry (DTI) invites you to the Stakeholder Workshop on the promotion of the use of timber in construction. The main purpose of the workshop is to create a platform for industry to discuss the importance of a wood culture society. The South African forestry sector's limited use of wood products has triggered a need for a...read more
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Mass Timber: Shattering the Myth of Code Exceptions
Structural timber is in the midst of a renaissance; an ironic trend given that timber is arguably the most ancient of building materials. But new innovations in structural timber design have inspired a range of boundary-pushing plans for the age-old material, including everything from bridges to skyscrapers. read more
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A wood DNA testing laboratory to check timber theft
The Institute of Wood Science and Technology (IWST) is working towards setting up a wood DNA testing laboratory in the city. IWST is partnering with the Indian Institute of Science (IISc) to create the first of its kind lab in the state. The demand for such a facility arose with the increasing number of wood theft cases in Karnataka. read more
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Helena builders have started using reinforced timber as a replacement for steel
What type of building material snaps together like Legos, strongly resists fire & seismic activity, is environmentally friendly & has made its way to Helena? Cross-laminated timber. Made by gluing together perpendicular layers of wood, CLT has gained significant traction...read more
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Positive heresy: unconventional saw filing tips
For the saw-doctors or filers out there, what’s the right way to do any given task in a filing room? You might want to say, “Whatever you were taught in school,” or maybe, “Whatever works best,” but you would be wrong both times. The proper answer is, however the head filer tells you he wants it done. read more
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