My difficult journey in finding a reputable wood supplier in Angola

Africa is known to be one of the most promising timber export markets in the world. According to the United Nations statistics, Africa has a total forest area of 21.8% of the world’s forest area. This is considered to be an extremely valuable natural resource, bringing great potential for economic development.

However, the rapid development of the African timber industry has also led to the emergence of hundreds of timber suppliers. This makes it difficult for timber-importing businesses to choose reliable and quality suppliers. Here is a story about the difficult journey of a Vietnamese customer of K-TIMBER when searching for a timber supplier in Africa.

Starting the journey with a strong hope to change our lives

“My friend, Anh Tuan, and I are young people who are passionate about business. We realized that Vietnam is a large importer of African timber because Vietnamese handicrafts are very popular with many customers. In addition, there are many businessmen who have changed their lives when they found a source of high-quality and cheap timber from Africa. With our passion and entrepreneurial spirit, we carefully planned, prepared all necessary documents, capital, and knowledge to start our journey to Africa. The first country we chose was Mozambique, a country in East Africa known for its abundant timber resources.”

The timber market in Africa and the “promised land” that is not as it seems

When we arrived in Mozambique, we were truly overwhelmed by the abundance of timber here. Wood is mined continuously day and night, from vast virgin forests. Rows of trucks carrying wood queue up on dusty red roads.

The government’s indifference has led to the mining of wood here to be extremely unplanned and not guaranteed in quality. Wood is mined in a random way, regardless of forest conservation. Many rare wood species are at risk of extinction.

The price of wood in Mozambique is very cheap, only half or a third of the price of wood in Vietnam. However, when we looked into it carefully, we realized that their way of processing wood is not good. Wood is often mined in a crude way, not going through a thorough drying and processing process, leading to poor wood quality. This creates a major risk for those who buy wood for the purpose of trading, especially when exporting to other countries such as Vietnam.

We went to many wood mills in Mozambique. We saw that the wood here is often damp, with many worm holes and cracks. The wood cannot be used to make high-end furniture but is only suitable for making household appliances, plywood, etc. If we buy this lot of wood back to Vietnam to sell, we will lose a lot of money. We were disappointed that we did not find the wood supply as expected. We decided to continue our search in other countries in Africa.

Collapse after being scammed for a large sum of money for the first time in life

Our journey did not stop in Mozambique, but instead, we decided to embark on a new adventure in Cameroon. This is known to be one of the countries with a reputation for wood quality, and we have placed our trust that Cameroon can provide us with more positive experiences and a more stable source of wood.

Cameroon, with its strategic location in the center of Africa, is considered a good target for many businesses looking for a stable source of wood. Here, we accidentally met Mr. Long, a Vietnamese timber trader. Mr. Long introduced us to a high-quality wood supplier with a reasonable price. We have carefully researched information about Mr. Long and the wood supplier he introduced. We also went to the place to survey the reality. Everything was fine, making us believe that we had found a reputable wood supplier. 

In addition, because we are compatriots in a foreign land, we once again forgot the concerns from the previous journey. We decided to place the first batch of goods, full of expectations and excitement. The batch of wood arrived in Vietnam to our joy. We imagined the scene of those high-quality, reasonably priced wood lots being sold out quickly, bringing us great profits. However, when we opened the batch of goods to check, we were really disappointed. The wood was damp, of poor quality, and could not be sold, and the truth was that we had been cheated.

We almost collapsed. We had lost a large sum of money, equivalent to all the capital we had accumulated. We had heard about cases of fraud in business, but we had never thought that we would be victims of scammers. We were too subjective, blindly trusting the introductions of Mr. Long.

Regaining our spirits and starting over

After months of suffering and the ultimate despair of failure, we decided to stand up, rebuild our spirit, and prepare for a new journey. We did not accept failure as a stop, but rather, it became a driving force for us to learn and strive harder.

We decided to learn from the painful experience in Cameroon to avoid making the same mistakes in the next country. To succeed in business, we need to have thorough preparation, research information carefully, and survey the reality before transacting any contract. We learned more about the African timber market, attended seminars, and training courses on timber import-export business. 

We decided to move on to Angola. And fortunately, we met Mr. Do Sy Hung, a reputable African timber supplier with over 20 years of experience in the industry. And what made us even more confident is that the company has two working facilities, one in Angola (HATC) and the address in Vietnam, our hometown (K-TIMBER).

We had a direct visit to the factories in Angola and were introduced to the company’s timber extraction and export process by Mr. Hung. We were also provided with full information about wood quality, price, documentation, etc. After careful consideration, we decided to sign a cooperation contract with K-TIMBER to import a trial container of Pachyloba wood first.

The quality of wood when it arrived in Vietnam was truly beyond our expectations. We learned that failure is not a stop, but a driving force for us to learn and grow.

K-TIMBER: The No. 1 Quality Timber Supplier in Africa

After many years of working and cooperating with K-TIMBER, we have come to understand that, in order to be successful in business, we need to have close cooperation with reputable partners.

K-TIMBER, with over 20 years of experience in the timber export industry to over 30 countries around the world, is proud to offer quality wood products with a commitment to a good wood ratio of up to 90%. With the mission of becoming a leading forestry business in Africa, K-TIMBER is constantly striving to improve product quality, services, as well as implementing sustainable environmental protection activities.

In addition to its outstanding wood quality, K-TIMBER always strives to optimize all costs in order to bring customers a wood price that is 20% cheaper than the market. Behind this success, it is impossible not to mention the silent dedication of K-TIMBER’s core team, always trying to support and answer all customer questions 24/7 in order to bring quality wood products that meet international standards.

If you are looking for a long-term, reputable and quality business partner, K-TIMBER is the top choice for many African wood production and trading businesses.

Contact information:

• ADDRESS VIET NAM (K-TIMBER): 169 Nguyen Ngoc Vu street, Cau Giay District, Hanoi.

• Phone: (+84) 833333914
• Email: [email protected]