‘Drop in export value of timber, timber products in first quarter of this year'

KUCHING: Sarawak recorded a 32 per cent decline in export value of timber and timber products in the first quarter of this year.

This was revealed by Deputy Chief Minister Datuk Amar Awang Tengah Ali Hasan who pointed out that the recorded export value for the first four months was RM1.3 billion compared to RM1.7 billion during the corresponding period last year.

“This was attributed to the reduction in the export value of logs (49 per cent), plywood (16 per cent), sawn timber (19 per cent), veneer (36 per cent), particleboard (four per cent) and fibreboard (seven per cent),” he said when opening the seminar on Wood Utilisation in Construction Structure at a leading hotel here yesterday.

Awang Tengah, who is also Second Urban Development and Natural Resources Minister, pointed out that the timber industry, being the mainstay of the state's economy, plays a very significant role in the growth of the state's economy.

“With export of timber and timber products being the fourth largest contributor to the state's revenue after petroleum, oil and gas, and oil palm, there is a need for the state to focus more on high value-added downstream industries for its timber and timber products.”

Citing the export of plywood as an example, he said the state has been and is currently exporting plywood to Japan, Korea and other countries.