John Day, CEO of RISI, opened the morning of the conference program with the keynote speech for the Seminar. His presentation highlighted how the increasing consumption of the Asian countries will continue to drive imports of forest products into the region for the foreseeable future, despite the short-term rise in fuel prices.

The CEO Panel, chaired by Carlo Chen of Westerlund Group, Asia, provided insights by three companies who are heavily invested in the Asian market. The panel discussed the effects of the considerable growth of transport infrastructure within the region, and confirmed their investments are aimed at supporting Asia’s appetite for raw materials, especially forest products.

The afternoon presentations, focusing on some the major ports surrounding Shanghai, rounded out the program. The speakers all agreed that while there is adequate capacity to meet demand in the short-term, ports and terminal operations have their sights set for the years to come.

During the second day of the Seminar, delegates were able to tour the Westerlund terminal facilities in Changshu, Jiangsu Province. Westerlund Changshu enjoys the distinction of being the only port in China exclusively dedicated to handling forest products.

Delegates gained an exclusive look at the work on the port and in their warehouses handles over two million tonnes of forest products each year. Werner Cramers, Managing Director with Westerlund Changshu, presented to the delegates how Westerlund, as one terminal operator in the Asian region, is preparing for the future.

The IFPTA would like to extend a special thank you to Alan Bog, Commerical Manager, Asia, Westerlund and Carlo Chen, Commerical Manager, Westerlund for their efforts in organizing and supporting the Seminar.

An IFPTA Board Director, Mr. Bog helped secure many of the program’s speakers, provided the introductory remarks for the program, and presented an overview of Westerlund’s Changshu operations for the attendees.

Mr. Chen’s advice and support was invalable in preparing the conference program and approaching local speakers. Also, his chairing of the CEO Panel gave its participants an exceptional platform to discuss the topic at hand. Mr. Chen serves as the IFPTA’s Regional Director for Asia.

Presentations from the IFPTA Second Asian Regional Seminar are now available for download.

If you would like access to the presentations, please contact Wendy Parsley for any applicable fees at wparsley@quintstrategies.com or call +1 212 995 9063.