Apkindo to increase panel wood production
JAKARTA (JP): The Association of Indonesian Wood Panel Producers, Apkindo, said yesterday domestic wood panel production would this year reach 10.5 million cubic meters.
Executive Chairman A. Tjipto Wignjoprajitno said the industry would this year increase production and export volumes, a result of better prices on the Chinese market and the large amount of raw material supply on the domestic market.
Tjipto said of the planned 10.5 million cubic meters production volume, 1.2 million would be sold on the domestic market and the remaining 9.3 million exported to various countries, including China.
He said China's rising demand resulted from its improved economy. Secondary-process plywood factories in Taiwan, China's main supplier of secondary-process plywood, were also short of raw materials.
"As a result, China needs wood panel in large amounts."
The increase in demand has helped increase wood panel prices, especially secondary-process plywood, the downstream product of plywood.
Tjipto said he was optimistic China would be able to buy Indonesia's wood panels because its foreign exchange reserves in 1995 reached US$31.5 billion and increased last year to $101 billion.
He expected China to import at least 1.8 million to 2 million cubic meters of wood panel this year. He did not say how much would come from Indonesia, or Indonesia's export target to China this year.
Tjipto said Indonesia's wood panel production would be able to meet this rising demand because there was likely to be sufficient raw material supply this year.
Indonesia's supplies come from the harvest of forest concessions, which will reach 22.5 million cubic meters this year, and timber from forest-clearing activities, expected to reach 23 million cubic meters.
"Timber harvests from forest-clearing activities that have a diameter of 30 to 45 centimeters will total about 10 million cubic meters this year, while smaller sized timber will reach about 13 million cubic meters," he said.
He said raw material supplies this year were expected to exceed Apkindo's demand of about 19 million cubic meters per year.
Tjipto said prices of Indonesia's wood panel on the international market was currently $509 per cubic meter. Prices of floor base wood panels were $535 a cubic meter, thin wood panels (2.4 millimeters thick) were $580 a cubic meter while concrete panels were $465 per cubic meter.
He said Indonesia's major competitor, Malaysia, could not compete with Indonesia because its current wood panel production of 4.2 million to 4.5 million cubic meters had reached its maximum level. (pwn)