As Mozambique's sawmilling industry continues to grow, Wood-Mizer's local representative, Saw Services Limitada (LDA), is providing valued support for sawmillers across the country. The relationship between Saw Services and Wood-Mizer, initiated in 2014, has benefited both companies and their customers. 2024 will mark a decade of the successful trading partnership in Mozambique.
“Mozambique is a tough place to work in, even more so for sawmillers,” says Mark Thompson, Africa lead for Wood-Mizer. “Beyond the daily challenge of getting logs to sawmills due to the vastness of the country and where the timber is located, it becomes more intense when sawmills in isolated areas break down. Money in the bank depends on effective support to get mills working again. The Saw Services team provide the vital expertise and support that is the lifeblood of these businesses.”
When Saw Services started in 2003, a struggling economy made Mozambique a less-than-promising business destination. Twenty-nine years after the end of Mozambique's War of Independence, essential services hardly existed, and trade was sluggish due to ongoing political uncertainty. Long distances, bad roads, and a nearly non-existent sawmilling sector in Mozambique meant that John Weeks and Richard Bramford, the proprietors of Saw Services, had to grow the business from scratch before turning a profit.
Overcoming these challenges wasn't unique for third-generation saw doctor John Weeks and his business partner and brother-in-law, entrepreneur Richard Bramford. The duo, originally from neighbouring Zimbabwe, had left the unsettled country to pursue new business ventures.
Basing the business in Chimoio, Mozambique, allowed the pair to travel between the countries as their families still reside in Zimbabwe. "We started by manufacturing our own range of band sawmills, but we faced challenges maintaining consistent volume and quality due to limited manufacturing skills in post-war Mozambique,” says Weeks. "We switched to retailing, focusing on always having enough stock on hand, fair pricing, and providing the best possible service and after-sales support.”
An invitation from Wood-Mizer in 2014 to represent the brand in Mozambique gave the business the step-up it needed, explains Bramford. “Working from the solid base Wood-Mizer provided was a vital win for us. This, plus our partnership with forestry product supplier Husqvarna and maintaining our ties with the automotive engineering sector, added further momentum."
Saw Services first operated from its two branches in Chimoio and Beira. The company's brisk growth and the need to support new Wood-Mizer customers elsewhere in the country made additions to its branch network necessary.
Branches in Beira, Nampula, Lichinga, Maxixe and Maputo followed, with the most recent branch additions in Vilanculos broadening Saw Services LDA's reach from Central Mozambique into the north and South of the country. "Distances are far, and travel is challenging, so it is important to have branches near customers," says Weeks. "We located our branches in these areas so that sawmillers can access the support they need and experience the Wood-Mizer service difference."
Gas exploration near Pemba provides an excellent opportunity for sawmill businesses to supply the industry with sawn timber, explains Weeks. There are also many plantations around Lake Malawi that are near Lichinga. Sawmillers will benefit from the new service centres in both cities.
Chimoio, the capital of Mozambique's central Manica province and the fifth largest city in Mozambique serves as Saw Services' central distribution hub, with secondary distribution also now happening out of Maputo. From there, all the other branches are supplied with the main emphasis on ready stock supplies to ensure minimal delays in the event of a breakdown.
New blades, spare parts, consumables, new machine sales, resharpened blades and other tooling, together with technical repair teams and training services, form part of the total suite of products and services available to sawmillers from Saw Services branches nationwide.
To overcome language barriers and technical skill gaps, the company emphasises the importance of Portuguese-speaking technical personnel to assist with breakdown, training, sales, and blade maintenance protocols. Sawmillers are encouraged to invest in blade maintenance equipment that makes it less expensive to sharpen blades, as well as to expand production further using secondary processing machines like resaws and edgers.
"Wood-Mizer is quite a technical product to sell and is an expensive piece of equipment in Mozambique. We need to make sure we provide the right support," says Weeks. "Our pricing structure is also very favourable when compared with imported products. But our ability to deliver a sawmill directly to a customer without them needing to arrange transport and dealing with import tariffs, customs officials and long queues at the border gives us the edge."
Weeks and Bramford highlight the benefit of representing a brand that is well-known and widely respected in Africa. “Wood-Mizer is seen as the benchmark for sawmilling excellence in Africa. The range's pricing and modularity allow sawmillers to invest in an entry-level mill and expand further as their budgets grow. Wood-Mizer's LT15 sawmill range is particularly popular in Mozambique. Its price-to-utility ratio is excellent, and it punches way above its weight. Sawmillers build their entire business around the LT15 range.”
Although Wood-Mizer has petrol, diesel and electric power options available, Saw Services finds that electric machines are very popular as Mozambique as ample hydro-electric power.
Looking ahead, Weeks and Bramford see potential in reafforestation projects in Mozambique that will reduce the country's reliance on indigenous hardwoods and instead move the emphasis to plantation-grown pine and eucalyptus.
Norwegian-owned Green Resources forestry company has established extensive forestry areas in the districts of Lichinga, Chimbunila, Lago, Sanga, Muembe, Mandimba and Ngaúma. If this momentum can be maintained and expanded elsewhere by more commercial growers, the Saw Services duo sees great potential for sawmilling in Mozambique.
Mark Thompson, Africa lead for Wood-Mizer, further highlights the potential for sawmillers to process coconut wood into sawn timber. Coconut wood has unique characteristics that make it ideal for flooring, and overseas markets are willing to pay a premium for it. “The high silica or sand content of coconut timber is not a challenge for Wood-Mizer sawmills. Our bandsaw blade range is made to cut any timber with resharpening equipment made available from Wood-Mizer for their customers to professionally return blades to factory specifications before the next cut.”
Weeks ascribes the success of Saw Services to diversity and strong partnerships. “We're succeeding in Mozambique because we offer a range of services and products. We also benefit from partnerships with strong business allies like Wood-Mizer to drive the success of our business further."
A resilient spirit, a commitment to making leading products available locally, and partnerships with leading brands position Saw Services Limitada perfectly for the next decade of sawmilling growth in Mozambique.
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