SSA NEWSLETTER - March 2026
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SAWMILLING SOUTH AFRICA NEWS |
From Risk to Resilience: Strengthening the Timber Industry Together
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It is mind-blowing that we have come to the end of March, with first quarter of 2026 behind, and for those of you with kids in school, the end of Term 1. I suppose we have had many distractions, both locally and globally, with the antics by certain presidents and the strikes on Iran. We are certainly living in trying times.
Some say that we cannot complain, as it has taken his attention off his tariff impositions. As South Africans, we are inherently resilient, and our sawmillers will press on with business as usual.
Timber purchasing scam and raids on businesses
In our last newsletter I warned members about a sophisticated timber purchasing scam that had left one of our millers considerably out-of-pocket.
Another serious situation has cropped up where businesses being unconstitutionally raided and bullied by people claiming to be from Parliament and the portfolio committee on labour.
I am quite sure that all of you have followed the events of the raid on the Normandien farms outside Newcastle KZN and the considerable, illegal and harmful damage that the raid caused to the workers and owners of the business.
Our colleagues at Normandien urge you all to remain vigilant. Please ensure that your security personnel are fully informed of their rights and do not grant access to any individuals without the appropriate documentation and formal authorisation from management.
Incidents of this nature used to only happen in urban areas; they are now worryingly filtering through to rural districts.
Farewell Gerald
Time has come to bid farewell to one of our longstanding friend and colleague Mr Gerald Stolts of the York Group. Gerald has been with the York Timbers Group since 2018 and CEO since 2022. Gerald will be leaving York at the end of March to pursue other interests. We wish everything of the best.
Forestry Value Chain Forum engages Government and key stakeholders
The Forestry Value Chain Forum (FVCF) is an industry initiative led by the Paper Manufacturers Association of South Africa (PAMSA), the industry body representing the pulp, paper, packaging and tissue sector. The FVCF has been set-up to enable better collaboration across the various entities along the forestry value chain, including Forestry South Africa, Sawmilling South Africa, PAMSa, the South African Utility Poles Association,the South African Wood Preservers Association and the boards and furniture sector, represented by PG Bison.
In early March, we held an insightful session where the various FVCF members spoke about the key challenges and opportunities. We were fortunate to many of our Government and industry stakeholders such as SARS and ITAC, in the audience where they were able to get a better understanding of the greater sector. There are many commonalities, not least of which the issue of timber theft and how it filters down to the subsectors. Facilitated table discussions, comprising a good mix of stakeholders, focused on identifying barriers, bottlenecks, and areas of synergy. These insights are informing, and will continue to guide, the FVCF’s strategic direction.
Talking Timber talks sustainability
Another ‘episode’ in our successful series of webinars was also held this month. Addressing the question “Is Timber Truly Sustainable?”, Professor Ben du Toit, an associate professor at Stellenbosch University, and Dr David Everard, Chairperson of the Sustainable African Forestry Assurance Scheme and respected forestry expert, unpacked the various areas where people misunderstood, especially the perceived impact of land and water. The webinar was attended by more than 100 delegates (out of 200 registrations) and many myths, inaccuracies and assumptions were corrected by the two experts.
The webinar, along with all previous webinars, can be viewed here.
So that’s it. Let me take this time to wish you a blessed April – whether you will be marking Easter, Passover or Eid al-Fitr.
So until next month Don’t forget to cut straight and dry flat.
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| Executive Director: Sawmilling South Africa |
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Sawmilling In The Shadow Of The Dragon
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The magnificent Drakensberg Mountain range straddles the eastern side of the southern African escarpment like a giant reclining dragon.
The tail in the Eastern Cape, the body in KwaZulu-Natal also called Ukhahlamba or Barrier of Spears in Zulu, and the head 1000 kilometers away in the Limpopo Province, draws a wide divide across South Africa. |
It’s in the shadow of the dragon that New Heights Sawmill near Elliott in the Eastern Cape lies.
The farm and sawmill that both trades as New Heights is evidence of John and Fiona Schenk’s abiding romance with the soil, nature and timber.
John’s father and uncle were already milling timber in the 1950’s near Alice, some 350 km’s southwest of Khowa (Elliott) where New Heights Sawmill is based.
“My Dad, who owned a trading store in Alice, milled timber with portable mills. He regularly spoke about trees that were 1,5m in diameter,” John Schenk says, speaking fondly about his Dad.
The Schenk clan’s continuing involvement with timber remains true in 2024.
Schenk Enterprises, a vertically integrated timber processing group with wide interests across the timber value chain is part of it, and so too New Heights Sawmill.
John’s role as a contractor for Mondi* where he milled fire-damaged logs from the company’s commercial forestry operations in the area, was a stepping-stone towards New Heights Sawmill.
When the contract ended in 2012, John and Fiona used the opportunity to buy land and build a sawmill.
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Pristine landscapes on the way to New Heights Sawmill.
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Despite New Heights’ remote location, slick logistics to and from the mill ensure no delay in production.
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Building the backbone of a sawmill.
“The period between starting the sawmill and where it’s now, was a bumpy one,” says John Schenk.
“Securing a steady log supply into the mill was the first challenge.”
He initially harvested poplar trees from riverine areas to supplement log supplies into the mill. Log supply agreements with commercial tree growers in the area followed next.
Despite ongoing log supply challenges, New Heights now has enough log reserves in place to push out 61m3 of sawn material per day.
Log sizes into the mill includes C and D-Class (Ø260-340+ mm) sizes, with a sprinkling of B-Class logs (Ø190-230 mm).
The capacity needed to produce these volumes also grew over time. Sawmilling equipment from Wood-Mizer now forms the backbone of the operation. |
Part of the Wood-Mizer line at New Heights Sawmill.
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Sawn product enroute to markets across South Africa.
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| Building volumes with Wood-Mizer
New Heights is remarkable for several reasons.
Although the mill is remote, slick logistics into and out of the mill ensure that logs move in and finished product out without any hitch.
The polished logistics is even more striking
when it’s considered that the mill takes in 100 logs per day and moves out 120 000 pallets on
a regular basis.
The line configuration at New Heights’ is also unique.
It has two log infeed’s that combine to deliver one and two-face logs to a Wood-Mizer
HR700 4-head resaw.
The first infeed takes logs into a Wood-Mizer HR500 single-head resaw to produce one open face, while the second infeed goes to a
Wood-Mizer LX450 that squares the log on
two sides.
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The slabs with wane that exit the resaw then feeds to a Linck multirip to produce blocks and boards with sideboards from each primary breakdown point passing pass through a recovery line that consists of a Wood-MizerEG800 and 2-head resaw.
The bulk of the sawn product goes into New Heights’ pallet manufacturing process, with the rest of the sawn output going to manufacturers in the Western Cape and elsewhere in the country. |
Some 120 000 pallets going out to customers on a regular basis.
Building into the future
70-year-old John Schenk’s eyes light up when he talks about the future.
“Agriculture’s been struggling in the area, but we’ve maintained an even keel despite the challenges by combining timber with agriculture.
“We’re also expanding our drying capacity to
enter the lucrative pallet export market,” John says.
Pallets used for export purposes must comply
with the stringent phytosanitary requirements of the International Plant Protection Convention (IPPC)of the UN’s Food and Agriculture Organization.
Heat treated or kiln-dried timber is an important way to control the introduction and spread of pests coming from plants or plant-based products across borders.
“Our aim is to increase our kiln-dried output to 78 m3, and in doing so, we’ll have more opportunity to produce IPPC compliant export pallets that sell for more,” John says proudly. |
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Some 120 000 pallets going out to customers on a regular basis.
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| Sawmilling doyen’s John and Fiona Schenk |
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A final word
The fact that John and Fiona Schenck have built New Heights up to where it’s now without caving into the challenges that they’ve faced, speaks to their can-do-attitude and indominable spirit.
Here’s to the next generation of sawmillers to build on their proudly legacy.
Link to article on the website: woodmizer.co.za. |
The Logs are Certified. Is Your Sawmill? |
Why FSC Chain of Custody certification is the link that preserves value through processing.
By Benjamin Rafemoyo | Market Development Officer, FSC Southern Africa
If your sawmill is sourcing FSC-certified logs, you are already ahead of the game. But certified logs alone do not make a certified sawmill. South Africa already has a strong certification base, with over 80% of its plantations FSC-certified, ensuring responsible forest management over roughly 1.4 million hectares.
The demand for products that can demonstrate an audited sustainability claim is growing globally. The challenge is that this sustainability claim does not travel automatically through the supply chain. Someone must carry it forward. At sawmill level, that is where the chain either holds or breaks.
The problem is not practice. It is proof.
Many sawmills are already sourcing carefully and running good operations. The challenge, more often than not, is not what they are doing. It is what they can demonstrate.
That gap matters more than it used to. Once customers begin requesting verified claims, knowing your material comes from the right place is no longer sufficient. You need a system that lets you show it, clearly and consistently, every time someone asks.
That is where FSC® Chain of Custody comes in.
What Chain of Custody actually does
At its core, Chain of Custody is a tracking system. It allows a business to demonstrate that material originates from FSC-certified or other responsible sources, and that its identity and sustainability value is maintained through processing to the finished product.
For a sawmill already purchasing or contract milling FSC-certified logs, it is the mechanism that keeps that certification claim alive through processing and into the hands of the customer.
Why the sawmill is the critical point
If you want to understand where Chain of Custody makes the biggest practical difference, look at the sawmill.
This is where raw logs become usable timber, and where certified status is either maintained or lost. If the sawmill does not have Chain of Custody certification, the certified logs effectively lose their claim the moment they change ownership or are processed. The downstream customer cannot make an FSC claim on the end product, even if the source material was certified.
That means real commercial value disappears at precisely the point where it should be protected.
With Chain of Custody in place, the picture changes. The sawmill becomes more than a processor. It becomes the link that keeps certified material's value intact as it moves into manufacturing, retail, and construction markets.
Furniture manufacturers, processors, and project teams supplying retailers or export buyers can only carry credible claims forward if the sawmill stage is properly covered. The ability to respond to downstream demand often depends on what happened much earlier in the chain.
That creates a very different conversation with buyers, and a stronger position in the market.
What this means commercially
For some customers, certification is already a procurement requirement. For others, it is becoming more important as sourcing scrutiny tightens across supply chains. While this is a trend that is most easily seen in more developed markets in Europe, the trend is expanding into southern hemisphere markets rapidly. It is worth understanding the scale of that demand.
IKEA, one of the world's largest consumers of industrial lumber, had 81% of its total wood intake FSC-certified by 2024. Of the world's 50 largest retailers, 58% hold an FSC Promotional Licence that allows them to extend the sustainable supply chain to the final buyer.
Recent South African consumer research found that 77% of consumers expect companies to ensure the wood and packaging they sell does not contribute to deforestation, and 74% want that sustainability independently certified. South Africa already accounts for about 60% of all FSC Chain of Custody certificates issued across Africa.
These are not niche trends. They represent the direction the global market has already moved, and South African sawmills with Chain of Custody certification are positioned to supply into that demand directly.
In that sense, Chain of Custody is not simply about compliance. It is about market access, commercial positioning, and protecting value that would otherwise fall away at the processing stage.
It is less complicated than you probably think
One of the most common misconceptions about Chain of Custody is that it means building entirely new systems from scratch. In practice, that is rarely the case.
Chain of Custody typically builds on systems sawmills already have, such as procurement records, stock control, production tracking, and sales documentation. For many businesses, the work is less about doing something completely new and more about formalising and verifying what is already in place. That process often brings useful improvements to internal visibility and operational clarity. It is also worth noting that 83% of FSC certificate holders say certification enhances their corporate image, and 74% say it helps them communicate their social responsibility commitments more effectively — benefits that extend well beyond the audit itself.
How the process works
Getting FSC Chain of Custody certified usually starts with selecting an accredited certification body, which will guide the business through the requirements and conduct the audit. Before the audit, the sawmill needs a clear system for how certified material is identified, handled, and recorded through the operation. Staff also need to understand their role in maintaining that system.
The audit then checks whether those systems are working as documented. Once certified, the business is subject to annual surveillance audits to confirm continued compliance. For many sawmills, the process is more practical and more achievable than expected, especially where good operational controls are already in place.
The direction is clear
FSC now has over 65,000 Chain of Custody certificate holders worldwide. Traceability expectations are rising, and sawmills are becoming more important, not less, in protecting the credibility of timber products across that global supply chain.
For businesses already working with certified material, the question is straightforward: are you carrying that value through processing, or is it getting lost at the very point where it should be protected?
Chain of Custody is how you make sure it is retained. For sawmills ready to understand what certification could look like in practice, the next step is simply to start the conversation, whether with FSC Southern Africa or an accredited certification body. |
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| SASDEA ANNUAL CONFERENCE 2026 |
| The South African Saw Doctors Education Association Annual Conference 2026 gathers sawmill professionals to discuss sawmilling, maintenance, and emerging industry challenges, with expert speakers like Robert Welsh sharing practical skills, innovations, and best practices for improved efficiency... read more |
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| What's Driving The High Copper Price? |
| High copper prices are being driven by a mix of global uncertainty, strong industrial demand, and supply disruptions such as mine closures. Market speculation, tariff concerns linked to Donald Trump, and currency instability—especially around the US dollar—are also contributing to price volatility... read more |
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| Sawmilling South Africa News Update |
| Sawmilling South Africa reports a positive start to 2026, with progress on industry projects, training initiatives, and upcoming events supporting growth and collaboration. However, members are urged to stay vigilant against increasingly sophisticated timber purchase scams targeting suppliers... read more |
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| Sawmilling In The Sheltered Shades Of The Shire |
| The Shire Group, founded by Rob Scott, blends artisanal sawmilling, eco-tourism, and conservation in the Amatola Mountains, creating a sustainable, community-focused business. By combining forestry, organic farming, and innovation, it demonstrates how environmentally conscious enterprise can thrive.... read more |
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