It was only when the furniture sub-sector became a runaway success story that the timber industry began to claim a more significant stake in growing the national economy.
In 2008, timber contributed 3.7% to total merchandise export with an export market value of RM 22.5 billion. It employed more than 300,000 workers (3.5% of total employment)and constituted 4.07% of the GDP of the nation that year.
If not for a total ban of cut log export from Peninsular Malaysia, the growth of the timber industry would not have been that momentous. This policy immediately cuts away the ground from which foreign competitors obtained raw materials from Malaysia to develop downstream products that actually competes with Malaysian wood products in the global market places. More importantly, for the first time, investors in the industry could plan to go into downstream processing because of a stable supply of raw materials.
Even so, investments in the timber industry has been on the decline. From investment statistics provided by MIDA, investments in 2009 has diminished compared to 2007 and 2008. In terms of investment in furniture it has shrunk 43% from RM309.1 million in 2007 to RM174.7 million in 2009. Similarly investments in panel products have slid by 79% from RM766.5 million to RM162.7 million in 2009 while investment in non-wood products had slipped 75% from RM233.8 million to RM56.7 million in 2009.
Apart from raw materials sourced from natural jungles, timber is also obtained from cash crop plantations such as oil palm and rubber estates. Lately, forest plantations are being developed to strategically provide timber resources to the industrial sector that are not only sustainable but legal.
No comments:
Post a Comment