An online exchange servicing SA`s timber industry has been launched. Business-to-business commerce-enabler Ideosphere developed TimberAfrica.com, reportedly first conceptualised by nationally represented timber broker Crickmay Erasmus and Associates (CEA) two years ago.
Andrew Crickmay of CEA Pietermaritzburg says the portal was born out of the need to position and project the sector through a unified global and regional approach, to showcase the strength, depth and capabilities of SA`s forestry, timber, furniture and value-added products and services.
"Clearly, alliance partners with specific capabilities and deep knowledge of the industry were required to build a platform of professional services in terms of communication, trading, banking and software development. It was also essential that TimberAfrica.com operate as an independent, neutral information and trading portal," says Crickmay.
TimberAfrica.com provides an online environment in which buyers and sellers of timber can meet to trade. The marketplace was developed in conjunction with a number of players in the South African timber industry, including timber broker ProcBroc and the publisher of WoodSA TimberTimes.
The marketplace is a dynamic price discovery environment, as opposed to an auction-based environment, where buyers and sellers are able to place bids and offers on standardised stock items and match trades on-screen. Marketplace administrators manage the settlement process once a trade has been matched, including physical fulfilment and payment settlement.
The payment settlement function was facilitated through the participation of American Express SA, Nedbank`s Iveri transaction processing system, and Credit Guarantee, in the form of transaction insurance services.
A portal to the timber industry has also been developed, namely www.timbersa.com, providing members with information such as industry news, access to product information, and industry statistics such as the SA Lumber Index produced by CEA.
A number of participants in the South African timber industry are already signed up as members, with trading reportedly proceeding at a brisk pace.
Some of the benefits foreseen for participants in the system include greater market liquidity, forward planning, market exposure, export opportunities, improved access to industry statistics and reduced settlement risk.
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