Gary Addison had been planning to send $3 million worth of logs to China, but amid growing trade tensions with Beijing he has set his sights on India as a new market.
Australian company Varied was set to export 20,000 tonnes of wood to China, but the shipment was put on hold at the first sign of trouble in the timber export industry.
This week, a ban on timber exports from other parts of Australia was extended to Western Australia and New South Wales amid claims pests were found in shipments.
Timber is the latest Australian product to be impacted by Chinese trade sanctions aimed at Australian exporters.
In WA, Mr Addison's company is one of the worst affected.
"We're 100 per cent reliant on China for our log exports," Mr Addison said.
He is racing against the clock to find a new overseas home for the timber.
"We're in a critical time frame now with the logs drying out over summer," he said.
If he cannot secure an international deal, he will try to sell the logs locally.
But the move would come at a cost for the company, and even result in some job losses further down the chain.
India the new China?
Hundreds of jobs have already been lost in South Australia and Tasmania as a result of China's crackdown on Australian timber.
With no end to the suspension in sight, Mr Addison has set his sights on securing a deal with India — a country long flagged as a potential market for West Australian timber.
"India seems to be stepping up as perhaps an alternative. We have tried a few other Asian countries but that hasn't been successful," he said.
"India is our last hope at this point in time."
A stronger partnership between Australia and India was backed by the Federal Government this week.
Trade Minister Dan Tehan said there were big opportunities for Australia to bolster its relationship with India.
"India is a great friend of Australia and further strengthening the trading relationship between us will be mutually beneficial," Mr Tehan said.
While China's decision has left Varied in the lurch, WA's Forest Industries Federation executive director Melissa Haslam said the state's broader industry would not be hit too hard by the ban.
Ms Haslam said not a lot of WA timber was sent overseas.
"It's quite a small volume, it's maybe 5 per cent of the industry. So we're really lucky," she said.
"We have got big processing facilities here, we can use most of our logs domestically and we have got great local demand."
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