STIDC: Timber export down first quarter of 2020 due to Covid-19, market shift
KUCHING: Sarawak recorded a decline of 11 per cent in its timber industry for January to March 2020 compared to the same period in 2019, according to Sarawak Timber Industry Development Corporation (STIDC) general manager Hashim Bojet.
In monetary terms, as of January until March 2020, Sarawak earned RM1.1 billion from its timber export compared to RM1.3 billion over the same period last year, he said in a statement yesterday.
“The decline in the state’s timber product export is caused by two factors – the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic to the current global economy, and the market demand is shifting to higher-value products,” he said.
He said plywood remains the state’s main timber product export where the total export value from January to March 2020 was at RM645 million – a decline of about 9.5 per cent compared to the RM713 million recorded in the corresponding period in 2019.
Export of logs accounted for the second highest for the first quarter of this year, valued at RM143 million, followed by sawn timber (RM128 million), fibre boards (RM73 million) and wood chips (RM61 million), he added.
On that note, Hashim said Japan remains Sarawak’s biggest importer of plywood valued at RM433 million for the first quarter of 2020.
India is Sarawak’s biggest importer of logs while the Middle East is the main importer of sawn timber, he added.
“Japan remains the main market for Sarawak timber products as a whole for the first quarter of 2020 with total export worth RM565 million.
“This is however a decline of 14 per cent compared to 2019 over the same period which was valued at RM661 million.”
He said Sarawak’s four other biggest timber markets for the first quarter of 2020 are the Middle East at RM155 million compared to RM111 million in the first quarter of 2019; India at RM85 million compared to RM104 million in 2019; Taiwan at RM72 million compared to RM70 million in 2019; and South Korea at RM58 million compared to RM69 million in 2019.