‘Brexit to hit timber exports to Britain’
IRISH timber exporters may be unable to service the British market on a just-in-time basis if border checks are introduced, the head of Glennon Brothers, one of the country’s major timber producers, has warned.
Joint managing director Mike Glennon said the timber industry had been “overshadowed by agriculture” in Brexit negotiations and that the sector is one of the most exposed to Britain’s exit from the European Union.
Speaking on Enterprise Ireland’s trade visit to Scotland last week, which led the largest delegation of Irish businesses to the UK since the referendum vote, Glennon also said he was optimistic the return of activity to the housebuilding sector in Ireland would help offset the challenges faced by the Longford based firm.
“We’re hoping what will somewhat mitigate it is the recovery of the housing market in Ireland,” he told the Sunday Independent.
“In 2006 we were building 93,000 units in Ireland, this year we’re probably going to build around 18,000, which is up from 14,500 last year. All of that will help somewhat reduce dependency on exports.”
Glennon, whose company turned over €129m last year and has a number of plants in Scotland, said any change to border controls could “remove the industry’s ability to service the market in the UK”.
“The only thing that is positive is that everyone exporting into the UK from Europe will have all the same issues but where we’re a little bit more impacted, part of our unique selling point was our just-in-time service, because there’s a great road facility between Ireland and the UK,” he said.
“We can have stuff in the UK within 48 hours without any difficulty because of the movement of goods.”
The company bought the assets of James Callander and Son, a Falkirkbased sawmill business, earlier in the year.
Glennon said that he would look to invest further in the company this year with more Scotland-based deals.
“We are also looking at the Irish one as well, but with this sea of uncertainty we’re just taking a breath to see where this goes.”