https://www.engineeringnews.co.za

Pretoria to host forestry industrialisation conference next month

29th September 2017

By: Schalk Burger

Creamer Media Senior Deputy Editor

     

Font size: - +

The Forestry Industrialisation Conference, to be hosted by State-owned forestry company Safcol in Pretoria on October 4 and 5, will highlight the potential of industrial and commercial forestry and wood products to support economic growth.

Safcol chairperson Lungile Mabece highlights the decline of commercial forests in South Africa from 1.58-million hectares in 1998 to about 1.2-million hectares currently, and says the adoption of wood product and construction standards used in developed countries can provide the technical basis for a rapid increase in the use of wood and wood products in industry and for construction.

“South Africa has a climate that is conducive to forestry and we also have the technical knowledge and research output to support much larger commercial forestry and industrial use of forestry products. “When compared to European countries that have well-established forestry industries, South Africa holds a competitive advantage to grow lumber, but does not capitalise on this advantage.”

Additionally, the establishment of community-owned forests can provide monetary reward for stewardship of forests and provide a regular income for communities. Technical standards for establishing, using and sustaining forests are readily available to facilitate this. The felling, however, should be done by professionals, says Mabece.

Further, the export of lumber, timber and wood products is hampered by high costs of transport to export terminals and, therefore, an export-led approach alone is not sufficient to underpin forestry industrialisation. However, regional industrial forestry value chains can provide a sustainable model for forestry industrialisation.

Meanwhile, South Africa does not use as much wood as most other countries do to build its civil structures, and there is significant potential for wood and wood products to broaden the range of materials used to build houses and commercial structures.

“In some countries, such as Finland, Japan and the US, about 70% of houses are built using mainly wood. “Effective development and industrialisation of forestry can introduce wood building materials and help to broaden the range and reduce the costs of construction materials.”

However, Mabece highlights the significant challenge of modernising wood processing facilities in the country, with about 90% of wood processing facilities and plants being very old and wasteful.

“In some cases, up to 72% of the timber that enters these processing facilities is lost as waste. “We cannot effectively industrialise the forestry and associated industries with only 28% resource use efficiency.”

Various pieces of legislation and government structures can be leveraged to modernise and upgrade these facilities, although these would depend on return on investment prospects.

The conference will host forestry experts, specifically from Nordic countries in which forestry contributes significantly to their economies, to share their insights, best practices and technical knowledge on forestry and related industries.

Edited by Martin Zhuwakinyu
Creamer Media Senior Deputy Editor

Comments

Showroom

Weir Minerals Africa and Middle East
Weir Minerals Africa and Middle East

Weir Minerals Europe, Middle East and Africa is a global supplier of excellent minerals solutions, including pumps, valves, hydrocyclones,...

VISIT SHOWROOM 
Flameblock
Flameblock

FlameBlock is a proudly South African company that engineers, manufactures and supplies fire intumescent and retardant products to the fire...

VISIT SHOWROOM 

Latest Multimedia

sponsored by

Photo of Martin Creamer
On-The-Air (15/03/2024)
15th March 2024 By: Martin Creamer
Magazine round up | 15 March 2024
Magazine round up | 15 March 2024
15th March 2024

Option 1 (equivalent of R125 a month):

Receive a weekly copy of Creamer Media's Engineering News & Mining Weekly magazine
(print copy for those in South Africa and e-magazine for those outside of South Africa)
Receive daily email newsletters
Access to full search results
Access archive of magazine back copies
Access to Projects in Progress
Access to ONE Research Report of your choice in PDF format

Option 2 (equivalent of R375 a month):

All benefits from Option 1
PLUS
Access to Creamer Media's Research Channel Africa for ALL Research Reports, in PDF format, on various industrial and mining sectors including Electricity; Water; Energy Transition; Hydrogen; Roads, Rail and Ports; Coal; Gold; Platinum; Battery Metals; etc.

Already a subscriber?

Forgotten your password?

MAGAZINE & ONLINE

SUBSCRIBE

RESEARCH CHANNEL AFRICA

SUBSCRIBE

CORPORATE PACKAGES

CLICK FOR A QUOTATION







sq:0.073 0.121s - 170pq - 2rq
Subscribe Now