Damn right! A MUST READ.

[Timber Man]

Not really, the timber brokers. like Euroforest, and owners also lose as they often also get paid over the weighbridge. It's just bad management as it means they don't have to tell people to stop producing when they have nothing else to do. It's the reason I always preferred to load flats because if only one came in at least I could go home early.

 

Not quite sure what you mean by that. Surely if we weren't overproducing roadside stocks would be less. Surely if there were less harvesters the problem improve.

A lot of mills have been full for a long time now and on quotas for deliveries in. It would suggest , particularly when some of these stocks have been carried for months.

The alternative to trying to keep contractors in work is saying theres no work for them.

[openspaceman]

Not quite sure what you mean by that. Surely if we weren't overproducing roadside stocks would be less. Surely if there were less harvesters the problem improve.

A lot of mills have been full for a long time now and on quotas for deliveries in.

 

I'm not in the trade now and didn't realise that, Stocks at roadside for over long does tend to be poor management in responding to change in demand but sometimes it was just used by the brokers as a no cost buffer.

 

It would suggest , particularly when some of these stocks have been carried for months.

The alternative to trying to keep contractors in work is saying theres no work for them.

 

Yes and that becomes a difficult call, worse when there were some 15 thousand of us in the supply chain, we hand cutters were laid off first when a firm had their own harvesters as finance was harder to switch off.

[Timber Man]

I'm not in the trade now and didn't realise that, Stocks at roadside for over long does tend to be poor management in responding to change in demand but sometimes it was just used by the brokers as a no cost buffer.

 

Yes and that becomes a difficult call, worse when there were some 15 thousand of us in the supply chain, we hand cutters were laid off first when a firm had their own harvesters as finance was harder to switch off.

 

Well it is a difficult call, but its also a fact of life.

Harvesters have become far more efficient, steep sites that would once have produced 50t on a good day are now producing into the hundreds with hill climbers.

There has never been any real guarantee for continuity of work,no one knows whats coming to market .

The south east and south west have always had problems with softwood harvesting,..no large end users, consequently a lot of the timber has to go silly distances to mills that have some capacity. You will know that from your own time in it.

I am not sure its always a change in demand causes the problem,.more a case of production exceeding demand .

[kevinjohnsonmbe]

Imports, partly. Uk is 3rd biggest importer of timber after Japan and China!!!

 

Chip is cheaper to import from Scandinavia or Canada.

 

 

Someone's mucking with the trade deals somewhere.

 

 

FC are on the case - all is solved!

 

3 days notice to be provided prior to import of fuel wood by sea, and 4 hours if by air (does anyone actually import firewood by air???)

 

Oh, no, that's not going to help because, (a) it only applies to wood for fuel, (b) it's intended to improve bio security rather than address internal industry inequities and © they can't even manage current workload effectively....

 

Bugger, back to the drawing board!

[wills-mill]

How about "50% of payment is made when the timber hits roadside by head measure, then the remaining 50% goes up by 10% a month until timber is cleared to mutual satisfaction or balance is paid"?

 

The whole game is a pretty closed shop on commodity pricing and timber grading. Any of us can get a copy of Farmer's Weekly and see what peas, carrots, hill sheep are fetching, but there's no chance on timber.

[Timber Man]

How about "50% of payment is made when the timber hits roadside by head measure, then the remaining 50% goes up by 10% a month until timber is cleared to mutual satisfaction or balance is paid"?

 

The whole game is a pretty closed shop on commodity pricing and timber grading. Any of us can get a copy of Farmer's Weekly and see what peas, carrots, hill sheep are fetching, but there's no chance on timber.

 

Tbh when we have harvested for the bigger marketing companies they have always paid a float on roadside stock if things aren't moving quickly , normally up to around 80%. Big hardwood we always do on measure, its just the firewood from that that is likely to be left roadside,..sometimes for months.Getting the other 20% is always questionable because of weight loss , particularly on conifer after a few months.

Most of these companies do pay on a rolling week or fortnight basis, but its very easy for loads to get lost in the system,.if you get what I mean .

[ShooTa]

I relise im rejuvenating an old thread - i wonder if brexit will have good connotations for this - or all the blustering/lobbying by the larger firms may make it worse./