Scotland Ready to Help UK with Fluctuations in the Global Timber Market

The UK as whole, according to Forestry and Land Scotland (FLS), is ‘far too vulnerable’ to fluctuations in the global timber market. However, the FLS says that Scotland is well placed to ‘mitigate’ the risk by stepping up its commercial forestry sector. FLS research shows that home-grown timber makes up only 33% of the UK market and believes that there is a ‘significant, unmet domestic demand’ for more structural timber and pallet wood. The FLS believes the timber market is set to become increasingly competitive in future years — suggesting the opportunity must be seized now.

Mick Bottomley, FLS head of marketing and sales, said, “Scottish-based timber manufacturers could potentially triple production to meet current and anticipated future demand and produce a greater share of the remaining 67% of the market, which is currently imported, predominantly from Scandinavia, Latvia, and Germany. There is also significant potential to expand Scotland’s one fifth of forested land area so that we can be more self-reliant in our requirements for timber.”

Bottomley added, “The UK can attempt to compete for diminishing supplies on the world market against growing economies such as China and India or do something to mitigate its exposure to these forces, by planting more commercial forestry now so that we are more self-sufficient in the future.”