Diary from Indonesia by Chris Sutton

Supplies from Indonesia have declined considerably over the last five years but a few mills retain an interest in shipping products to the UK.

With environmental issues at the fore, I visited Indonesia earlier in the year to see how mills were progressing in their attempts to attain genuine FSC accreditation.

For many years James Latham has traded with PT Kutai, a part of the Sumitomo Corporation, based in Probolingo, Java, which manufactures Flamebreak Door Blanks for us as well as a range of high quality light and ultralight plywood. The factory has a total capacity of around 150,000m3 and is one of the most modern and well-managed factories that I’ve had the privilege to visit. Strict controls are in place from the receipt of logs through to quality control, final inspection and packaging.

PT Kutai is working with the local farming community on forest management and expects to get certified Falcatta which is used for cores of plywood and door blanks. During the course of the trip I met one of the community leaders, a charming man who proudly wore his PT Kutai uniform, showing the close links between the forest and factory. He may not have had Sky TV, but he did have the most stunning views across the forest - where he could pick fresh root ginger, bananas, papaya and even coffee beans!

I also visited the Kutai nursery which works to develop new species, plant seedlings, monitor growth, as well as deciding what to develop as plantation species. Kutai is a quality producer intent on achieving FSC certification for its product.

The next part of my trip saw me visit two Sumalindo factories in Samarinda, Kalimantan Timur. The mills have genuine FSC accreditation and produce finger jointed, laminated and further processed Meranti sections for use in the joinery sector, plus a range of plywood in different sizes and grades. Once again, quality control was extremely high. Sumalindo currently have 267,000 hectares of certified FSC forestry, which really does show their commitment.

Sumalindo is committed to FSC and interestingly can sell at a considerable premium, the question is, will the UK market pay the price? Well, if we want genuine certified and quality hardwood and hardwood plywood, we should!

I had meetings with several other mills committed to FSC, but all agreed the UK would need to be prepared to pay higher prices and accept secondary species as traditional Meranti logs would become more difficult to obtain.

As a company, James Latham is involved with The Timber Trade Action Plan (TTAP) and so when I was in Jakarta, I met with the regional coordinater, Dejan Lewis, who provided me with excellent information on how Indonesian Mills are working hard on investing in certification programmes.

It was also good to catch up with Andy Robey lately of the UK Timber Trade Federation, who is now based in Jakarta and is working on various products in Indonesia.

So, in conclusion, while there are now fewer mills in Indonesia, those that remain are intent on investing in the future, by committing to certification and factory improvements. The message is clear - Indonesia as a supply country still exists, but if we want quality certified products the UK will understandably have to pay a fair price.

For information on products available from James Latham, please visit the website at www.lathamtimber.co.uk
email marketing@lathams.co.uk
or phone 0116 257 3415