Wood fumigation by professionals

Effective and safe fumigation of timber & wooden related products

At Freightfinders, we are always looking for the best way to offer you cheap transports with exclusive services from professionals. That is why we have teamed up with professional partners for wood fumigation, which gives you a complete package for your transport booked with Freightfinders. The logs are treated by experts and thus quickly and safely released for onward transport by sea freight, air freight, road or rail transport. All this can be booked quickly and easily via our platform. Secure our full service cheap and uncomplicated now and get wood fumigation from qualified specialists for your Freightfinders’ wood transport.

What types of timber fumigation are there?

Several possibilities for wood fumigation have developed over the years. The most common ones are heat treatments and toxic gases, such as:

• Methyl bromide

• Phosphine

• Sulfuryl difluoride

However, heat treatments are mainly used for wood packaging and are usually more expensive and more complicated to handle. Gases have therefore proven to be the better option for the transport of logs. The wood fumigation takes place in containers and experts then choose the right means.

Wood fumigation with methyl bromide

This toxic gas, also called bromomethane, has some advantages in wood fumigation. This includes, among other things, the good penetration of the material as well as the short exposure time. However, it also has major disadvantages: it is highly harmful to the environment, as it affects the ozone layer, and there is also suspicion of it having a mutagenic effect. These reasons led to the EU imposing a ban on wood fumigation with methyl bromide in 2004.

Wood fumigation with phosphine

The gas develops from solids, such as tablets, and takes about 72 hours to fully penetrate through the wood. This also results in significantly longer periods for wood and timber fumigation compared to other toxic gases.

Wood fumigation with sulfuryl difluoride

The most common as well as, due to its advantages, most efficient toxic gas for wood fumigation is sulfuryl difluoride. Due to its good penetration ability and a particularly short exposure time, it is usually the first choice for the wood fumigation process. In addition, the ventilation of the containers can take place right after the use of sulfuryl difluoride without any time delay.

In recent years, the use of sulfuryl difluoride has therefore become prevalent in wood transport. Despite the advantages of this type of wood fumigation, it may absolutely only be carried out by licensed fumigation companies and their qualified employees. In general, it is important to always ensure that the rules of each country are considered. With Freightfinders, however, you have partners at your side who are taking all the requirements and regulations of the different nations into account and can thus adapt the wood fumigation to the export if necessary.

Why does wood have to be fumigated

The raw material wood is becoming scarcer, and the demand remains. As a result, the raw timber often has to travel further and further distances. Yet, this also has some negative consequences. The spread of pests that endanger the native flora and fauna is increasing. However, this can not only lead to far-reaching environmental problems, but can also have a huge impact on the economy. In Central Europe, for example, bark beetles have spread and already affected many forests and caused great damage to forestry. Another consequence of the lack of wood fumigation and thus the import of pests are also import bans, which would be a huge interference in the economy.

Phytosanitary Certificate & Intra-EU Phytosanitary Communication Document (IPCD)

To prevent this bark beetle from spreading even further in other countries and continents, it is particularly important that the wood is fumigated beforehand and that no live pests can be imported. Many countries today therefore also require certificates, such as the Phytosanitary Certificate. In Germany, this document is only issued in the competent federal state. Logs, which are to be exported from the EU to a third country, also require the Intra-EU Phytosanitary Communication Document (IPCD). It describes the origin of the wood as well as the phytosanitary standards and other measures that had to be carried out. The phytosanitary treatments, such as wood fumigation, are the basis for the issuing of a Phytosanitary Certificate in Germany.

Freightfinders Service: Container fumigation

With Freightfinders, you can not only have wood fumigation carried out, but also container fumigation with many other goods such as wooden packaging or even food. For this purpose, we provide you with the right partners who, with many years of experience, can fumigate any commodity for your Freightfinders export and eliminate all kinds of pests. Learn more about this topic by clicking on the button.