Plywood market looking up, says Apkindo chief<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): Plywood prices in international markets have
\ngradually started to recover after a sharp decline since early
\nthis year, according to the Association of Indonesian Wood Panel
\nProducers (Apkindo).<\/p>\n
Apkindo executive director A. Tjipto Wignjoprajitno said
\nSaturday the price in Asian markets reached US$260 per cubic
\nmeter late last month over $230 in June.<\/p>\n
He said the demand for Indonesian plywood had also showed
\nsigns of increasing in the last two months, especially after
\nMalaysian plywood producers cut their exports.<\/p>\n
Demand from other Asian countries, especially from China, has
\nincreased significantly, he added. China signed a contract last
\nmonth to buy about 100,000 cubic meters of Indonesian plywood.<\/p>\n
He said the price of Indonesian plywood in China was
\nencouraging because high quality plywood could fetch prices of
\nbetween $250 and $260 per cubic meter.<\/p>\n
The price is still lower than last year's average of $400 per
\ncubic meter, Tjipto said.<\/p>\n
He said the increase in overseas demand for the Indonesian
\nplywood was partly due to a decline in Malaysian plywood exports,
\nIndonesia's main competitor in the market.<\/p>\n
The decline was due to the country's deficiency in the supply
\nof logs, he said.<\/p>\n
Indonesia is currently the world's biggest plywood producer
\nwith an annual output of 10 million cubic meters, of which 80
\npercent is exported.<\/p>\n
Plywood, a wood panel product, is Indonesia's second largest
\nnon-oil and non-gas foreign exchange earner after textiles and
\ntextile products.<\/p>\n
Apkindo estimates that Indonesia's foreign exchange earnings
\nfrom plywood exports is expected to fall by 16 percent this year
\nto US$3 billion from $3.58 billion last year, due to the drop in
\nprices and export volume.<\/p>\n
Tjipto said Indonesia's log production could slow down in the
\ncoming months as bad weather and heavy rainfall might hamper
\nlogging and log transportation activities.<\/p>\n
He noted that the recent devastating flood in Samarinda, East
\nKalimantan -- the country's main producer of logs -- had
\nsignificantly affected logging activities in the province.<\/p>\n
\"I've heard that several wood processing factories have been
\nstudying the possibility of importing logs to sustain their
\nindustry during the rainy season,\" Tjipto said. (gis)<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/plywood-market-looking-up-says-apkindo-chief-1447893297",
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