Timber Exchange's 2021 in Review: A Year Full of Achievements

Centersource Technologies was registered on 2018-10-04 as a supply chain automation platform by industry professionals to automate time-consuming processes and make global trade smoother. In line with our vision, 2021 saw a lot of developments and achievements from our end. Let’s take a brief look at all our pivotal breakthroughs this financial year!

March 2021 saw a mention of our initiative in the Financial Times (to be accessed at: https://www.ft.com/content/feb3029b-7baf-427a-840b-01c30c0c78d2) that kickstarted the year for us.

In April 2021, we partnered with Zebra, a leading 4bn RFID and barcode company that ensures every worker and asset on the edge is visible and they are connected to the data they require at all times. Zebra also ensures workflows, operations, and decisions are optimized in real-time so that they can generate impactful and efficient results.

In April 2021, we also hosted our very own Timber & Technology Conference that was attended by 17% of the global production. It acted as the perfect platform for sawmills, traders, forwarders, and importers to navigate the global timber market so that work can be done more efficiently with the help of technology. Various panels led by industry experts took the stage throughout the day to focus on various aspects of the industry, including the MENA timber market analysis and how technology can bring value to the supply chain. You can get to know more about the conference and check out the highlights at https://www.timbertechnologyconference.com.

October 2021 was a game-changing month for us as we saw three major accomplishments during that time. To begin with, our Timber Exchange platform got fully integrated with CargoX and Nafeza to facilitate ACID filing for the forestry industry and significantly reduce the risk of non-compliance. Since Egypt is a vital timber market for the largest exporters and producers such as Russia, Sweden, and Finland, a collaboration between CargoX and Centersource paved the way to digitize and simplify global trade.

In the same month, we also got selected to represent Sweden by Tillvaxtverket at GITEX Global – one of the major international technology exhibitions around the world. You can know more about the event here: https://www.northstardubai.com. To wrap up the outstanding month, we signed a confidential deal with a leading player in the industry to enter 1 million m3 into the platform.

The Timber Exchange Market Data Hub feature has been one of the most sought-after facilities that most industry players look for. It keeps track of data across various segments of the industry, along with the most influential country markets. It includes recent news plus real-time statistics on production, inventory, global price, grading rules, export/import, container line performance, logistics, and Egypt ACID regulations. In November 2021, we sold Market Data Hub to a leading producer of 3.5 million m3. You can register yourself for accessing the same at https://www.timber.exchange/market-data-hub.

Some of the most important tools that have been integrated into our platform in 2021 include:

• CargoX & NAFEZA Integration for ACI Filing: This is meant to help draft documents, send reminders, and keep track of the process especially when the destination of the shipment is Egypt and the new ACID rules are in order. Through this integration with CargoX and NAFEZA ensures that the ACI filing process is smooth. CargoX provides the service for electronic filing of shipping documents whereas NAFEZA is a verification service that ensures all documents are true to their sources.
• Marketplace for Advance Bidding & Offering Options: This includes all types of payment terms, incoterms, offer types, pictures of goods, capability to share offers publicly, and list important product characteristics.
• Management of Deals of All Incoterms & Shipping, Customs Documents: This helps track deal milestones and processes based on the agreed upon responsibilities shared by the seller and buyer (incoterms).
• New Website & Improvement of the System Intuitivity: This year gave us the scope for vastly improving and enhancing the look and feel of our website, thereby making the entire system more intuitive for the users. We have come up with a strong customer success team of experts who are there to guide all users at any point of time. There is also a written report about the ACI system in place.
• Improvement of the Data Infrastructure: Our team of experienced professionals ensured that the Timber Exchange platform became more robust with enhanced security and better performance standards all throughout, thereby improving the data infrastructure.
• Additional Deal Information: In addition to everything, we have also managed to add a few attractive features to the platform throughout the year that includes net & gross weight per product, certificates for products and contracts, HS-codes per product, and GS1 codes or own reference per product to ensure users get everything they have been looking for under one umbrella.

Centersource Technologies and Timber Exchange also host a regular Timber and Technology Podcast hosted by the CEO, Mr Amir Rashad, that acts as the meeting point for brilliant minds across the innovation, trade, and forestry industry. We pride ourselves to have had engaging conversations over the months with professionals such as Russ Taylor (CEO Russ Taylor Global), Håkan Persson (MD of SCA Timber Hong Kong), Christer Bladh (VP Sales of Södra), Alan Murphy (CEO & Founder), Bjorn Vang Jensen (Vice President, Advisory Services of Sea Intelligence), Engr. Ammar Quzeih (CEO of Al-Rashed Group), Guillame Hotelin (Deputy CEO Comarbois), Yahia Saidi (General Manager, El Assami), Ryan Wolters (VP Sales of CMPC Maderas) and Daniel Kokot (Commercial Manager, Berneck).

Entering 2022 is knocking on our doors, let’s take a look at where our platform stands:

• 22 million Capacity on the Platform
• 32+ Staff
• 100+ Smart Tools
• During the early launch of our platform we helped a reputable Swedish Sawmill sell timber directly to the importers by cutting out middlemen from the equation, thereby increasing prices deriving 5-15% higher for all offered products. (https://www.timber.exchange/customers).

In the upcoming year, we plan on reaching more heights as we expand our operations to a much larger clientele.