What Timberlink does

Timberlink GmbH is a Hamburg-headquartered international wood trading company founded in 2003 by Kim Vestergren, who is the sole shareholder and managing director. The company imports and distributes hardwoods — primarily African species such as Sapelli, Iroko, Tali, Bubinga and Mukulungu sourced from Cameroon, the Central African Republic and the Republic of Congo — alongside European hardwoods, South American and Asian decking, and a range of sawn timber and round log products. Timberlink serves European and international wood importers, lumber yards, and downstream sawmill and processing customers, with sales conducted on a quote-based, per-cubic-meter basis (FOB/ex-works plus freight, per German trade customs).

The company's competitive offering rests on direct relationships with forest operations and sawmills in supplier countries, supported by in-region agents and purchasing/inspection staff in China, Vietnam, Ukraine and Cameroon. Owned physical assets include a sawmill in Ukraine (for oak, ash and beech processing, invested in 2013), a tropical wood horizontal saw strategically placed at an African supplier (2018), additional sawmills redeployed to the Republic of Congo and Cameroon (2023), and a >1,000m3 kilning facility with both air-dried (AD) and kiln-dried (KD) storage. Specialty services include custom sawing (rift, half-rift, wide boards, long lengths, fixed dimensions) and veneer selection (Pommele, burl patterns).

Timberlink is privately held with no external institutional investors. The senior leadership comprises Kim Vestergren and managing directors Johannes Borglykke Sørensen and Peter Søgaard Visti, all former employees of DLH (Dalhof Larsen & Horneman). In 2021, the Denmark office, Vietnam office and Ukraine operations were reorganized into a parallel entity, Timberlink ApS. The business model is B2B wholesale via direct sales, led personally by the CEO who travels to source regions to negotiate and select wood, with FSC, OLB, EUTR and SGS certifications underpinning legal and sustainability compliance for EU market access.

Name

Timberlink

Legal name

Timberlink GmbH

Website

https://timberlink.de

Company type

Private

Founded year

2003

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Timberlink is a Hamburg-headquartered international wood trading company that imports African hardwoods (Sapelli, Iroko, Bubinga, Mukulungu) and European species, supplying European and global wood importers and lumber yards through owned sawmills in Ukraine, kilning facilities, and in-region sourcing agents across Africa and Asia.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Wood & Forest Products Trading

NAICS

Lumber, Plywood, Millwork, and Wood Panel Merchant Wholesalers (42331), Sawmills (321113), Forestry and Logging (113)

SIC

Wholesale-Lumber, Plywood, Millwork & Wood Panels (5031), Sawmills & Planting Mills, General (2421), Forestry (800)

akta.pro primary industry

Forest Products Import/Export & Commodity Merchants (IMAMAIAM)

akta.pro secondary industries

Timber Procurement & Wood Dealer/Timber Buying Services (IMAMAAAF), Hardwood Lumber Sawmills (IMAMABAB)

Keywords

• Tropical hardwood trading
• Sawn timber imports
• Wood processing services
• Kiln dried lumber
• African hardwood supply

Headquarters

HQ city

Seevetal

HQ country

Germany

HQ region

Europe

Offices5 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Hardware or Manufacturing

Cost components

Personnel, Supply Chain, Operations, Infrastructure, Marketing or Sales

Revenue model

1. Wood Trading: Import and sale of high-quality African hardwoods including Sapelli, Iroko, Tali, Bubinga, Mukulungu from Cameroon, RCA & Republic of Congo
2. Sawmill Services: Sawing contracts and special sawing services (rift, half rift, wide boards, long lengths, fixed sizes)
3. Agent/Broker Services: Facilitation of wood trading transactions on agent basis for international customers
4. Kilning and Manipulation Services: Drying and further processing/manipulation of timber

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels1 record

Core offering

Timberlink GmbH imports and distributes high-quality tropical hardwoods — including Sapelli, Iroko, Tali, Bubinga, and Mukulungu from Cameroon, the Central African Republic, and the Republic of Congo — together with round logs, sawn timber, and terrace decking sourced from Africa, South America, and Asia. The company supplements trading with proprietary processing capabilities: an owned sawmill in Ukraine for European oak, ash, and beech, a 1,000m³-plus kiln drying facility, storage for air-dried and kiln-dried material, and specialty sawing and veneer selection services for European and international wood importers and lumber yards.

Product overview

Timberlink GmbH operates as an international wood trading company headquartered in Hamburg, Germany. The core product portfolio consists of round logs and sawn timber sourced from West Africa, South America, North America, East Europe, and Asia. The company offers specialized services including veneer selection (Pommele, burl patterns), custom sawing (rift, half-rift, wide boards, fixed dimensions), and kiln drying capabilities with over 1,000m³ capacity. An owned sawmill in Ukraine enables processing of European hardwoods including oak, ash, and beech. The company maintains direct relationships with forest operations and sawmills in supplier countries across Africa, with agents in China, Vietnam, Ukraine, and Cameroon.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Round Logs (Rundholz)

Quantifiable outcome

• One of the most important wood importers in Germany

Named customers1 record

Segments2 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature4 records

Partnerships

Three partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• SGScoreOthersIndependent Swiss controlling company that follows up on the origin of wood. Enforces forestry regulations in African countries alongside local authorities. Without SGS approval/stamping of export documents, goods cannot be exported.
• Verein Deutscher Holzeinfuhrhäuser e.V.minorOthersGerman association of wood importers whose trade customs (including Tegernseer Gebräuche, INCOTERMS, and A.T.I.B.T. Paris recommendations) apply supplementarily to business conditions.
• DLH (Dalhof Larsen & Horneman)minorOthersLeading Danish wood trading company. Founder Kim Vestergren trained there in 1993 and later worked at a German company specialized in African woods before founding Timberlink in 2003.

Scale indicators5 records

Recent moves13 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Regional players

• Holzwerke Heinrich Struck: German sawmill and timber processor specialized in European hardwoods (oak, beech). Regionally comparable to Timberlink's German operations in product type and customer base.

Broad incumbents

• UPM-Kymmene: Finnish forest products major with significant timber and wood product operations globally. Competes indirectly with Timberlink in the broader European wood supply market, particularly in certified timber.
• Mayr-Melnhof Holz: Austrian sawmill group focused on sustainable spruce timber processing with European industrial customer base. Overlaps with Timberlink in European sawmilling and industrial wood supply, though in softwood/spruce rather than tropical species.
• Stora Enso: One of Europe's largest forest products groups with global sawmilling, wood products and trading operations. Overlaps with Timberlink in lumber and wood-based panel supply to European industrial buyers, but at much larger scale and broader portfolio.

Direct peers

• Precious Woods: Swiss-listed sustainable tropical timber company with FSC-certified concessions in the Congo Basin and operations in Brazil. Competes with Timberlink in FSC-certified African hardwood supply to European buyers.
• Pollmeier Massivholz: German hardwood sawmill and processor focused on European beech and oak products with export reach. Comparable in species focus and European customer base, though focused on temperate rather than tropical hardwoods.
• DLH (Dalhof Larsen & Horneman): Leading Danish wood trading company from which Timberlink's founder and both managing directors were recruited. Operates a global hardwood and softwood distribution business with comparable African hardwood sourcing — the closest direct competitor and reference point.
• Danzer Group: European hardwood specialist, historically active in African tropical hardwoods with sawmilling and veneer operations. Direct competitor in hardwood lumber trading and processing to European industrial buyers.
• Interholco AG: Swiss-headquartered trader of African tropical hardwoods (sapelli, sipo, iroko, wenge) with FSC-certified concessions in Central Africa. Direct competitor in the same specialty species and African sourcing geographies as Timberlink.

Emerging players

• Tropical Timber Solutions (TTS): European tropical hardwood trading companies (comparable smaller specialists) operating in similar African-to-Europe flow. Caveat: included as a representative category peer; specific identification is not high-confidence.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/timberlink-wood-and-forest-products-gmbh

Compliance4 records

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles3 records

Subsidiaries1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Timberlink