Centrop Houtimport in Zaandam, The Netherlands was founded just before the Second World War as “Centraal Europese Houtimport (Central European Timberimport) in Lienden. The company specialized in, as the name explains, import of softwood from Central Europe.
The main suppliers were located in Austria, East- and West Germany. Centrop was also the major Dutch buyer of LIGNA, Czechoslovakias biggest producer of scaffoldings and concrete shuttering products. Centrop had also started trading in hardwoods, mainly White Meranti and Merbau.
At the end of the 1970s, Centrop started importing Scandinavian timber. By now, Centrop was a known player in the market, and the English company Montague Meyer was interested in acquiring the company and its built up know-how. Later, Montague Meyer merged with International timber, which led to a new enterprise: Meyer International.
Centrop retained its function as softwood importer, even after Meyer International acquired the Royal William Pont in 1990, leading to a change of name to PontMeyer. Centrop Houtimport expanded their business with Russian spruce and grew to the become the largest player in the Dutch market, and it still is.
Since 2015, Centrop is a part of the holding Timber and Building Supplies Holland NV, resulted from a merger of PontMeyer and Deli Building Supplies.
