FORDAQ CONVENES GLOBAL WOOD INDUSTRY LEADERS TO ASSESS IMPACT OF MIDDLE EAST CONFLICT ON TIMBER TRADE
On 6 May 2026, Fordaq brought together senior wood industry leaders for a live panel discussion on the situation in the Middle East and its consequences for global timber trade.
More than 1,000+ people registered for the webinar from 70 countries. Participants represented key sectors including Paper and Forest Product Manufacturing, Wholesale Building Materials, Furniture Manufacturing, Wood Product Manufacturing, and Construction.
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That’s a remarkable amount of work hours for a single machine, the Norcar 600 owned by Erkki Rinne is taken well care of, it even has the original Diesel engine.
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Kieran Anders is a forestry contractor working in the lake district. His work involves hand cutting and extracting timber using a skidder and tractor-trailer forwarder.
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It is not possible to eliminate chain shot, but there are simple steps that can be taken to reduce the risk.
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Arwel takes great pride in the fact that the mill has no waste whatsoever, “the peelings are used for children’s playgrounds, gardens and for farm animals in barns in the winter and the sawdust has multiple uses in gardens and farms as well.
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Timber hauliers need to encourage young blood in, and also look after the hauliers we have, we need make the sector a safe and positive place to work.
FIND US ON
Seniority levels were notably high, with a strong presence of directors, presidents, top managers, owners and other senior professionals.
Moderator:
Sampsa Auvinen Board Professional, Chairman of the Board – European Confederation of the Woodworking Industries, Honorary President – European Organisation of the Sawmill Industry Panelists
Ulf Gabrielson CEO, UNI4 Marketing, Sweden
Thomas Schauerte Head of Sales, Ante-holz, Germany
Matti Iso-Kuusela Sales Director, Versowood, Finland
Hassan Sinno General Manager, International Timber Company, Saudi Arabia and Lebanon
Ibrahim Elshal CEO, Elshal Timber, Egypt
Key Findings
- Freight costs to the Gulf have doubled or tripled since the conflict began, with war risk surcharges capable of doubling
container rates further. The Strait of Hormuz fell from ~3,000 monthly vessel transits to just 154 in March. - Jeddah is now the sole entry point for softwood into Saudi Arabia. Arabian Gulf flows have been fully stopped for over two
months, leaving containers stranded across India, UAE, Oman, and Egypt. - Everyday sawn timber demand remains robust – some buyers are entirely out of stock – while large infrastructure projects such as NEOM have been downsized or delayed.
- European wood retains a decisive advantage over South American and other distant alternatives due to quality, established
relationships, and lead-time reliability. - Saudi Arabia is seen as the most resilient market for the next 12 months, underpinned by Vision 2030. Mass timber (CLT,
glulam) represents a significant long-term opportunity in the region.
“No crisis lasts forever. The companies that will emerge stronger are those that invest in relationships, remain flexible, and continue to show up with solutions. Fordaq’s role is to keep this industry connected and informed — in good times and in difficult ones.” — Sampsa Auvinen, Chairman, Fordaq SA
Editorial conclusion
No one on the panel claimed to know how or when the Strait of Hormuz will fully reopen, or what the regional order will look like in twelve months. That uncertainty is honest, and more useful than false confidence.
What the panellists did agree on is that the structural fundamentals of the Middle East timber market, including population growth,
urbanisation, ambitious public investment programmes, and a construction sector that has been deliberately diversified away from pure oil revenue dependence, remain intact. The disruption is real and it is costly. But it is a disruption, not a structural collapse.
The companies that will emerge from this period in a stronger position are those that stayed in contact with their customers, maintained supply where logistics permitted and used the pause in normal trading to deepen the relationships that, in this industry, ultimately determine who gets the call when freight routes reopen.
Source FORDAQ
Full video on the conference is is available here
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