By Karen Bong
KUCHING, April 8: Sarawak has fallen behind Indonesia as the number one plywood supplier to Japan following a decline in production of log from natural and planted forests from 5.73 million m3 in 2019 to 4.33 million m3 in 2020.
Deputy Chief Minister Datuk Amar Awang Tengah Ali Hasan pointed out that this has affected Sarawak’s global plywood market share, as the export of plywood to Japan has dropped to RM1.97 billion in 2020 from RM2.11 billion in 2019.
“At the domestic front, declining production from natural forest and increasing cost of production in the upstream have further impacted the competitiveness of the local timber industry.
“The timber industry is now facing many challenges, especially with the current global economic and geo-political uncertainties, which are further compounded by anti-dumping and anti-subsidy initiatives imposed by consuming countries, and strong competition from other producers such as Indonesia, Vietnam and China,” he said when addressing the Sarawak Timber Industry Development Corporation (STIDC) special assembly today.
In order to effectively play its role in the timber industry, Awang Tengah proposed that the State implement a Business Turnaround Plan (BTP) to enhance existing income stream, streamline cost structure and explore new sources of revenue.
“The way forward for our local timber industry is to transform its business operations for long term sustainability in line with the Timber Industry Master Plan.
“Our local timber industry player cannot continue to rely on natural forest alone but to utilise more timber from planted forest,” he said.
Moreover, Awang Tengah who is also Second Minister of Urban Development and Natural Resources, added that timber industry players must also move towards downstream high value-added activities such as furniture and engineered wood products, employing Industry Revolution 4.0 to enhance productivity and competitiveness.
“At the same time, they must also explore new markets beyond the existing traditional markets,” he shared.
He also highlighted that under the Sarawak Economic Action Plan (SEAC), Sarawak has set an export earning target of RM8 billion for timber and timber products by 2030.
“STIDC will continue to facilitate more foreign investments for the local timber industry as part of our effort to fast track the growth of high value-added industry.
“STIDC will focus on optimising the utilisation of planted timber and non-forest timber products to create high value-added products,” he said.
Awang Tengah reiterated that the Sarawak government will continue to enhance the implementation of Sarawak Timber Legality Verification System (STLVS) and Forest Management Certification (FMC) in order to comply with international requirements.
“We have now allowed third party verification to ensure our credibility and market acceptance. By 2022, all long-term Forest Timber Licences must have FMC,” he added. — DayakDaily
