Re: Importing raw materials (Exotic wood)

On Sun, 14 May 2006 18:10:06 -0700 (PDT), M A Granich wrote
:

> Hi John,
>
> Your model doesn't seem to work with "raw" materials.
> I'm struggling to find an "inovation" for importing
> wood for use in musical instruments. The prime woods
> are Mahogany, Rosewood, Ebony, Maple, and Spruce.
> There are many other exotic hardwoods used.

***Yes, raw materials are NORMALLY a commodity item, and not our thing,
except...***
>
> The trade is largly buyers from all over the world who
> establish relationships in the areas where the logs
> grow. They'll buy logs outright or bid at an auction
> for the logs. There is no way I could compete with
> large companys like Theodor Nagel & Co. who station
> thier German buyers in India or South America for
> months tracking down the exotic hardwood logs and then
> having them shipped to Germany. Do you have any
> suggestions for a small time importer who wants to
> investigate supplying the trade?

***An optometrist I know who is a sculptor on the side imports marble from
italy, raw
material, which is hand quarried, not blast quarried. Blast quarried marble is
of course
cheaper but often has hidden cracks, a disaster for a sculptor. So he charges
a premium
price selling to a tiny market of sculptors working in marble.***
>
> I thought maybe having the logs milled to specs in the
> country of origin...?

***Well, there you are...what wood do people want that Nagel will not bother
with. Start by
asking nagel.******
>
> AND, you once said shipping via container was done by
> volume NOT weight. In an article I read from 1986,
> wood was being shipped from South America to Germany
> for $200 per ton and from Africa at $150 per ton. Is
> wood different from other items being shipped?

***Well, ocwean freight by volume, trucking by weight, ALMOST always... the
tariff books are
set up for both methods, you pay th method that yields the greatest revenue for
the carrier.
In commodities it is almost always weight, not volume.***
>
> Just so you know, in addition to tinkering with glass
> for telescopes, I also do a lot of woodworking and in
> particular, I build guitars. I got started as a
> teenager working for a violin maker in St. Louis and
> have dabbled off and on over the years. You'll never
> get rich as a luthier unless you morph into a factory
> like CF Martin Company or Taylor guitars. It's a
> labor of love for me.
>
***Guiter ready wood straight out of the amazon?***

John

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