Thread: Shipping Small Amounts of Timber to the US

Originally Posted by Runge

Does anyone know some entity whose business is to aggregate parts of a shipment into a single shipment and then ship it?? Incidentally, Air mail costs at least $11/kg. Does anyone have any experience with this kind of thing??

the business is called a "freight forwarder" you seem to be looking at furniture removalists.
a google search for "international freight forwarders sydney" returned
https://www.jtmcargo.com.au/
https://flashfreight.com.au/
https://www.freightforwarderquoteonline.com.au/
www.internationalfreightforwarders.com/
among others

I've not used any of them

Hi ian,

Thanks for your thoughts. When I speak of an aggregator, that person is the name/address that I gave to all of the Gidgee/Cooktown Ironwood/... sellers (they sell to me) in AU so that they can send my recently purchased wood to him/her. That person would then accumulate the various shipments of timber from with AU and eventually have the shipper do a pick-up or they could do a drop-off with the shipper. They would also need export permits. I don't think a freight-forwarder would get involved in such an activity. It seems to me that there needs to be a single POC in Australia.

When I imported from the Dominican Republic, I worked with the wood producer and the shipper - directly. Several important differences exist here. First, Roberto was keen on exporting his timber. This means that he had export permits, motivation and he was the only supplier so that no aggregation was needed. Also, labor rates in the Dominican Republic are much lower than in AU. Today, I don't know anyone in AU that is keen on exporting timber to the US with the exception of Djarilmari in Denmark, WA.

I think the aggregator is going to need to be a "woody" with permits and probably one of the suppliers. Otherwise, this whole thing is a bust.

Hi Runge
Sorry, I misunderstood.

Given the quantity you are talking about, and the nature of the product, I doubt if I would trust an aggregator who wasn't a woody.

As far as I know, permits to export -- and import into the US -- can't be issued until the shipment is ready to go.
Luke Maddox and/or John.G. will be able to advise re Australian export permits -- but I THINK export will only be a problem if some of what you want is listed by CITIES.
Perhaps talk to US customs re their requirements for importing into the US.

this link might also help you
Department of Agriculture and Water Resources Exports of unprocessed wood (wood export licensing)

Originally Posted by ian

this link might also help you
Department of Agriculture and Water Resources Exports of unprocessed wood (wood export licensing)

Hi ian,

Thanks for the link. As far as importing into the US, I already have the needed permits. It's the other end ...

I bet there isn't a warm (outdoor) place in Canada right now ...

Originally Posted by ian

Hi Runge
Sorry, I misunderstood.

Given the quantity you are talking about, and the nature of the product, I doubt if I would trust an aggregator who wasn't a woody.

As far as I know, permits to export -- and import into the US -- can't be issued until the shipment is ready to go.
Luke Maddox and/or John.G. will be able to advise re Australian export permits -- but I THINK export will only be a problem if some of what you want is listed by CITIES.
Perhaps talk to US customs re their requirements for importing into the US.

Hi ian,

It's not just CITES that is a restriction. Australia prohibits the export of any timbers listed as "vulnerable." That means Acacia peuce is out. On that topic, I spoke directly with the person providing "Queensland" with the recommended status of various plants. They said that Acacia peuce does not formally meet the definition of "vulnerable" in Queensland but they said there wasn't a significant motivation to change the status of such an "iconic" species.

I have sent you a PM