Gold and silver prices reached record highs in 2025, as did copper, which reached $14500 per metric tonne on the London Metal Exchange in January this year. This boom had a big impact on our industry, as copper is a key ingredient in the manufacture of wood preservatives. What is... read more →

Some years ago, a prominent South African forestry company came up with the saying, “It’s time to put down the axe.” The industry modernised, expanding its operations into new products and becoming a world leader in some of them. Our industry is now at a similar inflection point. It’s time... read more →

We work in an industry of real things: timber and its products. I am grateful for this. And it’s important to remember, as our worlds of work and play become increasingly digitalised. Our timber trade’s values are rooted in earth, nature, and people. As we wrote last year, “Our industry... read more →

This past year − if I’m honest the process actually began late last year − stretched me more than I expected. However, after a business disappointment, I remember telling the team: “I’m not sad this happened. It keeps us humble – which is good.” It reminded us that we’re not... read more →

2025 caught us by surprise. After years of setbacks – the Covid19 pandemic, supply chain crises, inefficient local ports, and loadshedding – this year startled us, in a good way. The Dolphin Bay team exceeded our internal sales projections as business confidence in South Africa grew on the back of... read more →

While the industry looks back on a buoyant 2025, Dolphin Bay’s factory managers are welcoming the summer break as a chance to simply catch their breath. Months of record sales have brought busy days for treatment plant managers across the industry, and especially for Dolphin Bay’s own factory teams. “Since... read more →

A year ago, our sales team was feeling optimistic heading into 2025. Now, looking back, they see that their optimism was warranted. “We were expecting a good year for our South African customers, and that’s what happened,” said Wayne Driemeyer. That, and more. “I didn’t foresee how well we would... read more →

Dolphin Bay has helped MillPres set up Africa’s first Permacure ACQ (Alkaline Copper Quaternary) plant to treat timber poles for the export market. It’s a new plant for a new business – a string of “firsts” within our industry. MillPres is a partnership between Brondal Treated Timbers and the timber... read more →

Dolphin Bay has updated Pro-Treat, our digital treatment platform which provides users with clear advantages such as streamlined operations and simplified management for their timber treatment plants. Plant managers and operators benefit from new features that make it easier to uphold high operational standards, saving time and enhancing productivity. “Pro-Treat... read more →