Page 97 - KZN Top Business Portfolio-eBook 2022

Silviculture
Advise on best operating practices and the best species
to plant dictated by site and market requirements.
MARKETS
Pulpwood
Hardwood timber destined for pulpwood is NCT’s
predominant product, sold into various wood
chipping plants. In some instances, NCT also markets
timber to local corporate pulp and paper markets.
Wood Chips
NCT supplies timber into its two wholly owned
facilities in Richards Bay and Durban that export wood
chips to Japan, China, Taiwan, India with spot deals
to countries in Europe. The mills place a significant
portion of South African timber resources in an
excellent position to access overseas markets. This,
in turn, contributes to better pricing and financial
returns for the private South African timber grower.
Biofuel
NCT has limited access to international biofuel markets.
Non-Pulpwood
NCT offers its members the opportunity to trade their
non-pulp round log timber into a host of financially
secure non-pulp market options - saw timber, treated
poles, mining timber, charcoal markets. Its network
of registered non-pulp round log markets covers
the three main timber growing areas in South Africa:
Mpumalanga, KwaZulu Natal and the Eastern Cape.
CERTIFICATION
Forest Certification
NCT has been Forest Stewardship Council® (FSC®)
- certified as a group manager since 1999. 37% of
timber marketed by NCT is sourced from FSC-certified
plantations. The remaining 63% is obtained from sources
that comply with the FSC controlled wood requirements.
The complexity and costs of managing plantations under
the FSC system precludes many smaller operations from
achieving certification. To resolve this challenge, NCT
has been working with industry partners to develop
a market-related standard that is relevant to South
African plantation forestry, particularly for smaller scale
operations. This new standard has been internationally
endorsed by the PEFC (Programme for Endorsement of
Forest Certification). Although this is a new certificate,
NCT has over 20 independent farmers who have
registered on the system.
Quality Management
NCT obtained ISO (International Organisation for
Standardisation) certification in 2001 & holds ISO
9001:2015 certification for quality management
systems at its head office.

www.nctforest.com 95