Shortly before his departure to Qatar and the subsequent journey to Bahrain, the Holzkurier met with the successful lumber trader Alfred Vesely for a conversation. Even in economically challenging times, the fully loaded ship travels across the Mediterranean Sea to North Africa and the Gulf States around twice a month with a crew of 13 people. Vesely already supplies more than 15 countries in the region – mainly Algeria and Morocco. In an average year, around 200,000 m³ of lumber are shipped there. For decades, thus, Vesely has been making a valuable contribution to transporting wood products from the DACH countries to what is an important overseas market for them.
New legal form
Change in progress: In Koper, the new AV-Timber logo is sprayed on the first lumber packages © Vesely
After more than 30 years of sole proprietorship, its size and structure made it necessary to restructure the Vienna-based trading company Alfred Vesely Timber Export. “We are currently in the middle of changing the legal form. In the future, there will be two subsidiaries, AV-Timber and AV-Line, which will be controlled by the AV-Holding. The company name and logo may change as a result, but our high quality standards and service philosophy will remain the same, of course,” Vesely tells us. The entrepreneur took this step to separate the trading business from the shipping company. “In addition to structural and tax-related reasons, this step was necessary because a business license cannot simply be inherited,” Vesely explains. Vesely’s son, Alfred Jr., has also been firmly integrated in the company for several years and has accompanied his father on several business trips across the Mediterranean Sea.
Years ago, it was not unusual for a single customer to order an entire shipload. Today, that practically doesn’t happen anymore.
Many customers lack understanding for rising prices at a time when markets are weak.
Changes in business
Alfred Vesely knows the region like no other. In fact, he lost count of how many times he has been to North Africa and the Middle East © Vesely
Vesely explains that his customers’ purchasing behavior has changed repeatedly over the years: “It no longer happens that one customer orders an entire shipload. Not too long ago, we had twelve different customers on just one ship,” the entrepreneur says, giving an insight into his everyday business. A shipload corresponds to around 8,500 m³. When it comes to delivery quantities, there is virtually zero tolerance: “In many countries, import regulations are very strict. In addition to precise quantities, we always pay meticulous attention to all regulations on wood protection. For this reason, we treat each lumber package with wood preservatives before loading in the port of Koper. Our partners in Europe don’t have to worry about anything,” the trading expert explains.
All goods must comply with the MENA guidelines set out in the Austrian Timber Trade Practices standard: They have to be sharp-edged, white and free of beetle infestation and major wood defects. “Customers from the MENA region have had demanding requirements for years. Selling B-quality goods to the Middle East is a no go,” Vesely says.
On its way back to Slovenia, the cargo ship transports almost exclusively Tunisian salt. The 5,500 t of goods are mostly used for industrial purposes in Austria, but also as road salt in Slovenia during winter.
Demand expected to boom
Destination Algeria: Just a few days ago, AV-Line’s ship arrived in the port of the Algerian city of Bejaia. On board: European lumber for the North African market © Vesely
The North Africa expert expects demand for Central European softwood lumber to increase in the region over the coming years. In addition to the upcoming elections in Algeria, which are traditionally accompanied by huge housing projects as incentives, Morocco is also one of the host countries for the 2030 Football World Cup. This is expected to boost demand for infrastructure and, above all, accommodation. Furthermore, the country is in a reconstruction phase following the devastating earthquake in Marrakesh.
“Assuming that prices won’t rise so sharply again in Austria, we’ll be there, too. But as long as it happens that dried Swedish lumber is cheaper than fresh Austrian lumber, we lose a central sales argument,” Vesely says about domestic price developments and adds: “Many customers simply lack understanding for the fact that prices are now rising again, even though all markets and the construction industry are weakening. There is high price pressure on the global market.”
Demand for fresh 3-m goods is high in North Africa and the Gulf region.
Room for more
A milestone: A few months ago, Alfred Vesely’s own cargo ship set sail for the 100th time © Vesely
“There’s still room on the ship,” Vesely says with a smile. In fact, the entrepreneur would have enough capacities to ship up to 300,000 m³ a year to the MENA region. “In order to do that, though, everyone involved has to play along and the local sawmills also have to rethink their production a bit. Demand for fresh 3-m goods is high in the region, and new partners and suppliers are always welcome,” the successful lumber trader explains, adding that he has been expanding his product range to include beech lumber in the last few months.
“We have already successfully sent the first shipments of beech wood. We want to further promote this segment in the future, not only to position ourselves more broadly, but above all to be able to offer a bigger range of products to our customers and new sales markets to our partners. The market for European beech lumber is there – and we want to create the opportunity to serve it,” Vesely says in conclusion, giving an outlook.
