Timber! That cry is being heard a lot more around Britain these days, as the wood processing industry is experiencing a huge growth in production, largely thanks to trees planted decades ago that are finally reaching maturity. Source: The Independent UK
The UK is reaping the rewards of a frenetic period of conifer sowing in the 1960s, producing a record 12 million tonnes of timber in 2014, according to new figures from the Forestry Commission.
Last year’s production was a third higher than in 2008, helped by rising investment and increased promotion by the Government.
“A lot of conifer forests were planted in the 1960s and 70s and they’re now coming to maturity” said Stuart Goodall, head of the private forestry and wood processing industry body ConFor.
“They take about 40 years to grow and this is the optimum time to be harvesting those trees.”
The increase in supply has been accompanied by rising demand.
“There’s been a huge amount of investment in sawmilling, which has increased their production capacity but also created wood products that are easier to handle and look better and that’s encouraging people who are buying wood to buy British,” added Mr Goodall.
The timber in question is overwhelmingly the soft wood of conifer trees, which account for 96% of Britain’s production – although they comprise only about a quarter of the country’s woodland overall.
Conifers, which are suited to Britain’s mild, rainy climate, are mostly grown in the North of England, southern Scotland, western England and Wales.
The biggest chunk of the wood produced in the UK is used in house building, followed by fencing for homes and farms, and decking for gardens. It also finds its way into everyday goods such as newspapers and sandwich packaging.
The British timber industry is now worth £1.9bn a year and employs 40,000 people.
Most of the woodland is managed by family firms with James Jones & Sons and BSW Timber Group among the biggest.
Furthermore, the trend of rising production is set to continue for the next 15 to 20 years. But at some point in the 2030s, production will trail off dramatically as tree-planting fell off a cliff in the 1990s, said Mr Goodall – creating a shortfall in supply that is even more pronounced when you consider that at the current record level, the UK still imports 80 per cent of the wood it uses.
This makes it the third biggest net importer of timber in the world, behind only China and Japan.
Tree-planting peaked at around 66 million a year during the 1960s, following a post-war drive to replenish stocks lost to the war effort and aided by tax breaks. It was still up at 55 million in the 1980s but tumbled to around 8 million in the 1990s and has stayed at about that level ever since, said Mr Goodall.
Furthermore, while almost all the trees planted in the heady days were conifers intended for harvesting, a sizeable percentage these days are “broadleaf” trees planted for environmental reasons, he said.
