By Lian Cheng
KUCHING, Oct 21: The encouraging progress of Sarawak’s downstream initiatives is clearly demonstrated by the export performance of wood pellets, which skyrocketed from RM0.4 million in 2021 to RM179 million in 2025.
Building on this momentum, the State’s next focus is to further expand the downstream sector by concentrating on key products such as furniture, biomass, engineered wood, and bamboo.
Apart from sharing this, Minister of Natural Resources and Urban Development Datuk Amar Awang Tengah Ali Hasan further disclosed that the export value of furniture products also recorded an increase from RM47.7 million in 2021 to a peak of RM59 million in 2024.
“This development reflects the potential of the downstream timber industry in diversifying export products and strengthening its contribution to Sarawak’s economic growth,” said Awang Tengah when delivering his ministerial winding-up speech during Sarawak Legislature at Sarawak Legislative Complex here today.
In its efforts to diversify, he said that Sarawak through Sarawak Timber Industry Development Corporation (STIDC) has launched a large-scale bamboo planting project as an alternative raw material to support the development of the downstream timber industry in Sarawak.
The Sarawak Government targets 30,000 hectares of bamboo plantation by 2030. To date, 5,146 hectares have been successfully planted through commercial cultivation and community involvement.
In terms of timber industry development, Awang Tengah who is Bukit Sari assemblyman (GPS-PBB) said STIDC has issued 1,319 various types of timber industry licences to date, covering imports, exports, local sales, and manufacturing.
Of this total, 329 are timber mill licences, which have created employment opportunities for 9,625 people, he said.
On timber industry in general, he said the economic contribution of Sarawak’s timber industry has reached an export value of RM2.5 billion in 2025, maintaining a strong momentum into 2026 with RM1.77 billion recorded as of September 2026.
Noting that the timber industry is one of the important economic contributing sectors in Sarawak, he shared the industry has been facing challenges such as the supply of raw materials, volatile global markets due to geopolitical tensions, rising operational costs, and increasingly stringent environmental compliance demands.
“My Ministry, through its agencies, has formulated and implemented several initiatives to address these challenges.
“These include the sustainable development of forest plantations, marketing and investment promotion, restructuring the industry toward value-added products, and enhancing the Sarawak Timber Legality Verification System (STLVS).
“At the same time, the utilization of wood waste to produce biomass pellets and biochar has the potential to support a circular economy and waste-to-energy (WTE) approach, while optimizing resource utilization,” said Awang Tengah. –DayakDaily
