50 years of history to the day!
Founder Jip Margadant emigrated to South Africa in 1973 to study Wood Science at the University of Stellenbosch. After getting his Bachelor’s degree he worked in the industry for several years at Shefeera timbers in Louis Trichardt and Bruply Doors in Boksburg. In 1983 he returned to Stellenbosch to obtain his Master’s degree in Wood Science. During this time Jip also started his family from whom his son Ronald later on joined the company and became his business partner in 2008.
He returned to Europe only to come back to South Africa in 1995 to explore the wood industry for possible export products for the European market. This resulted in the export of a wide range of products such as Wide pine flooring planks, garden furniture, decking, door strips, anti-parking poles etc. These products were manufactured from several Eucalyptus species such as Karri (E. diversicolour) and Tallow wood (E. microcorys).
Later on, due to stronger local demand, most of these Eucalyps species were no longer suitable for the large export market. This prompted our search for other Eucalypts that possess the unique properties needed to endure in salt and fresh water as well as on land. The species Eucalyptus Cloeziana turned out to be very suitable for all these purposes especially in terms of durability and natural resistance to marine borer. Furthermore it’s strength is comparable to those of tropical hardwoods.
Currently Margadant Wood together with Wood Solutions, is growing Eucaluptus Cloeziana/Paniculata FSC certified on 263 hectares of our own plantations and we are operating our own saw mill. From forest extracting, re-planting to production, we are involved in the entire chain and we are confident we can meet the demands of the market.
