Tropical woods
- Thread starter Jim King
- Start date
Travis Johnson
Member
- Messages
- 2,369
Hey Jim, nice to see you have joined up! Because of where you live, what you do and your vast knowledge of exotic woods I think you'll prove to be real beneficial on Family Woodworking.
While I am not trying to tell you what to do, you out to send that link so everyone on here can see that boat full of carvings and exotic woods. That was pretty cool I thought.
In any case, glad to see you joined up and for keeping us straight from the southern hemisphere!!
While I am not trying to tell you what to do, you out to send that link so everyone on here can see that boat full of carvings and exotic woods. That was pretty cool I thought.
In any case, glad to see you joined up and for keeping us straight from the southern hemisphere!!
Julio Navarro
Member
- Messages
- 281
- Location
- Tampa
Jim, great stuff. I have seen alot of very interesting and beautiful local craftsman woodwork in my travels in Venezuela and Colombia, (I've never been to Peru), and I have always been curious as to weather exporting was a good idea or not. I always figured it was much more than just shipping a box full of stuff to the US (I've seen first hand the level and degree of corruption that can influence these sort of ventures).
Do you see any results, vis-a-vi the South American Free Trade Zone agreement toughted recently in making exporting and importing easier?
And can a 'one man' operation succeed in today's mass quantity global scale?
Do you see any results, vis-a-vi the South American Free Trade Zone agreement toughted recently in making exporting and importing easier?
And can a 'one man' operation succeed in today's mass quantity global scale?
Julio:
The biggest obstacle I have is the corruption and the cost of it at all levels. I have lived in Brazil (Tabatinga) and Colombia (Leticia) and they were about the same with Colombia a little bit better.
My experience in exporting has been that a four foot square crate has the same amount of corruption and paperwork as a 20 or 40 foot container. You almost have to do volume to make it.
On the other hand if you have a family member who lives there and is willing to do the leg work and can take the time to out last the corruption without paying to get started and ship small quantities you probably could do it. If you are exporting out of Colombia you will have a wide variety of inspections in the port of entry as a new importer checking for drugs and whatever. You have to pay for these inspections. You have to have packing crates treated to ISPM 15 specs or they will confiscate your wood. You may or may not have an approved facility near where you would produce the wood to buy approved crate wood. Your customs agent and other costs are also the same on a little or a lot. You will have to post a bond at the port of entry. The US side is a bit out of hand on paperwork and regulations also but at least they are honest.
My wife always is collecting street dogs and bringing them to the factory and of course they all pee on the corners of the wood piles and this sets off the drug dogs here and in the States so I usually get an extra inspection. My freight to the States is very cheap at $1400 for 20 foot containers but the freight in the States is extremely high so we are building a warehouse in Houston to eliminate double freight around the States. My freight for a 4 foot square crate is $400 as the shipping company does not like small packages as it take the cranes on the ship the same time to load a 4 foot square box as a 40 foot container.
I just noticed you are in Tampa, a few years ago my partner from Tarpon Springs got caught with four ton of cocaine in a shipment of Spanish Cedar. He held the record for a while but has since been way out done. That is a major reason for the variety of inspections and one of the dangers of this business. With a container it is sealed here by the police after inspection and opened by customs in the States so not much worry. That saftey factor does not exist with crates.
My email is jameskingpe@yahoo.es if I can help with anything.
Jim
The biggest obstacle I have is the corruption and the cost of it at all levels. I have lived in Brazil (Tabatinga) and Colombia (Leticia) and they were about the same with Colombia a little bit better.
My experience in exporting has been that a four foot square crate has the same amount of corruption and paperwork as a 20 or 40 foot container. You almost have to do volume to make it.
On the other hand if you have a family member who lives there and is willing to do the leg work and can take the time to out last the corruption without paying to get started and ship small quantities you probably could do it. If you are exporting out of Colombia you will have a wide variety of inspections in the port of entry as a new importer checking for drugs and whatever. You have to pay for these inspections. You have to have packing crates treated to ISPM 15 specs or they will confiscate your wood. You may or may not have an approved facility near where you would produce the wood to buy approved crate wood. Your customs agent and other costs are also the same on a little or a lot. You will have to post a bond at the port of entry. The US side is a bit out of hand on paperwork and regulations also but at least they are honest.
My wife always is collecting street dogs and bringing them to the factory and of course they all pee on the corners of the wood piles and this sets off the drug dogs here and in the States so I usually get an extra inspection. My freight to the States is very cheap at $1400 for 20 foot containers but the freight in the States is extremely high so we are building a warehouse in Houston to eliminate double freight around the States. My freight for a 4 foot square crate is $400 as the shipping company does not like small packages as it take the cranes on the ship the same time to load a 4 foot square box as a 40 foot container.
I just noticed you are in Tampa, a few years ago my partner from Tarpon Springs got caught with four ton of cocaine in a shipment of Spanish Cedar. He held the record for a while but has since been way out done. That is a major reason for the variety of inspections and one of the dangers of this business. With a container it is sealed here by the police after inspection and opened by customs in the States so not much worry. That saftey factor does not exist with crates.
My email is jameskingpe@yahoo.es if I can help with anything.
Jim
Last edited:
Art Mulder
Member
- Messages
- 3,383
- Location
- London, Ontario
Wow. I know nothing about shipping, but man that sounds cheap.
Wonder what it would cost to ship a container to Toronto or Montreal...
Oh well, that's wayyyy out of my business expertese area.