20 INTEGRATED ANNUAL REPORT 2022 Members entered the supply year with no real inkling that the markets were in our favour, despite the prospects of extended supply seasons and milestone developments occurring regularly on the member front: • There was a successful transition from shareholding members to members in accordance with the revised NCT constitution, with share values redeemed back to 226 members who required such. • Longer term planning forecasts were implemented to provide suppliers with a longer planning window. • Formal performance monitoring was introduced, which methodology has been continuously improved since inception. • The PEFC certification process was rolled out to extend the certified base available to NCT and ultimately our markets. • Our market prospects grew along with the exponential growth in Chinese demand as they recovered from a protracted trade war with the USA (as well as Covid-19). • Eucalyptus suppliers capitalised on the NCT “hunt for gum” in the first half of the year and many signed up supplementary Eucalyptus GST agreements to fulfil the increased demand. Eucalyptus at this time was actually more in demand than Acacia. The market dynamic experienced in these early months likely contributed towards the angst felt by our rail suppliers who were let down by poor rail service delivery. These problems were to escalate as the year progressed leading to a focused assessment of road versus rail as an alternative transport mode. By April, it had become clear that out of season demand was real and an aspect that NCT would have to contend with henceforth. A great deal of communication was sent out to members. Reduced E. globulus supply on the global stage kept the demand for E. smithii high and the interest in Acacia by clients new to the genus grew significantly. Despite NCT maintaining a cautious approach to in-person meetings given Covid–19, physical zonal meetings were held and well-attended by members starved of one-on-one contact. Our contact meetings however did not extend to workshops and field days which we felt prudent to postpone until such time as the pandemic became under control. The fluctuating SA Rand/US Dollar exchange rate and the resulting first of two Eucalyptus price reductions occurring in May required a great deal of explanatory communication to the member base, focused on the need for prudent cost control. MEMBERS
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