RI's plywood prices to rise

RI's plywood prices to rise

JAKARTA (JP): Korindo Group, the South Korean trading arm of Indonesia's association of plywood makers, said that it will soon raise the export prices of plywood.

"We are planning to increase plywood prices by around US$20 to $30 per cubic meter this year," said Korindo's general manager, Kim Sang-jin, in Bisnis Indonesia yesterday.

Export prices of plywood at present range from $370 to $1,200 per cubic meter, he said.

The government has announced that export revenues from plywood, a major foreign currency earner among the country's non- oil products, fell by nine percent in the January-September period of last year to $2.8 billion from the corresponding period of 1993.

Analysts and several buyers have said that the export decline was mainly caused by trade policies practiced by the Indonesian Association of Wood Panel Producers (Apkindo) and its trading arms. Apkindo officials have vehemently denied this.

Under Indonesian regulations, all international transactions of plywood must be conducted through Apkindo, its trading arms and its appointed distributors.

Kim, who did not address the trade mechanism, said that Korindo also plans to increase the share of Indonesian plywood in the South Korean market.

He said that plywood imported from Indonesia makes up about 87 percent of the total imported plywood in South Korea.

"I cannot tell you by how much we will increase Apkindo's market share in Korea but we will do our best," he said.

Kim said five giant South Korean firms have acted as Apkindo's distributors, including Samsung Corp., Hyundai Corp., Sunkyong Corp., Hyosung Corp. and Eagon Corp. (hdj)