RI charged of undercutting

RI charged of undercutting

KUALA LUMPUR (AFP): Malaysian plywood exporters have charged that Indonesian counterparts were unilaterally slashing plywood prices to undercut them in the international markets.

Exporters with the Malaysian Panel Products Manufacturers Association (MPPMA) said the Indonesian Wood Panel Association, or Apkindo, after breaching a regional pact not to undercut prices, did not even bother to answer its request for talks, the Business Times financial daily reported yesterday.

Chai Fook Leong, president for the local plywood exporters' association, charged that Apkindo unilaterally chopped plywood prices on July 4, after agreeing at the ASEAN Panel Products Federation meeting in Kuala Lumpur on June 30 not to resort to such action in the spirit of cooperation and solidarity.

The Apkindo cut was unkindest to Malaysia as prices of plywood plunged in China and the European Union, two of Kuala Lumpur's main markets, by 27 percent and 16 percent respectively, Chai said.

He said Apkindo did not explain why it breached the ASEAN pact and had ignored all contacts made by the MPPMA and the Philippine Plywood Association to discuss the issue.