KUCHING: The global timber market has reported encouraging development last month, with positive signs of a turnaround seen in several countries.
Global Timber Index (GTI) pilot countries, including Thailand and Ghana, have reported growth for February 2025.
“The GTI for Thailand stood at 47.1 per cent, with harvesting, production, and domestic orders all showing positive signs despite a decline in export orders.
“The GTI for Ghana was at 53.3 per cent, above the critical value of 50 per cent for the second consecutive month and signalling an overall improvement in its timber sector.
“In Ghana, the total volume of existing orders was relatively sufficient, providing short-term support for production and business activities in the sector,” according to the GTI Index’s overview for February.
In Malaysia, the GTI rose by 0.5 percentage points to 20.6 per cent month-on-month, indicating an easing in the downward trends in the timber sector.
Also reporting increases on GTIs from January were Mexico (47.8 per cent), Republic of Congo (45.6 per cent), China (44.1 per cent), Brazil (43.2 per cent), and Gabon (34.7 per cent).
The GTI is a survey in nine pilot countries that covers timber harvesting, trade, and manufacturing, including production, orders, imports and exports, employees, inventory, raw material prices, and other business indicators.
The index reflects the monthly prosperity trend of a country’s timber market.
A GTI index reading above 50 per cent indicates the industry prosperity is generally expanding, while below 50 per cent indicates that it is generally declining.
The monthly report said Chinese enterprises were relatively optimistic about the overall trend of the timber market over the next six months.
Last month, several countries increased policy support for their timber markets.
Thailand’s Commerce Ministry announced the simplification of export procedures for the export of Thai wooden products.
Except for Siamese Rosewood, which remains banned from export, companies are no longer required to obtain a permit to export these wooden products.
“And it is expected that the cancellation of the requirement to get a permit will greatly reduce complicated steps and costs for Thai wood traders,” said the report.
In Gabon, the country’s transitional President announced that the government would immediately allocate 30 billion FCFA (the country’s official currency) to revive stalled construction projects, and the move is expected to boost the construction sector’s demand for timber.
In Brazil, the Chamber of Deputies unanimously approved a bill that stipulates the refund of taxes equivalent to three per cent of export revenue for micro and small exporting companies, which will ease the tax burden on their timber exports.
On sustainable forest management, the report said Brazil’s National Biodiversity Commission established national biodiversity targets for the period 2025-2030, including a target of achieving zero deforestation in the country.
The GTI-Malaysia Index reported that in 2024, the country’s timber product exports jumped 4.9 per cenr to RM22.9 billion from RM21.85 billion in 2023.
According to the Plantation and Commodities Ministry, this positions the timber industry as the third-largest contributor to commodity exports after palm oil and rubber.
Last year, Sarawak recorded a nearly 10 per cent decline in export earnings from the timber industry, amounting to RM2.84 billion, down from RM3.14 billion in 2023.
The decrease in year-to-year export receipts was primarily due to a significant drop in revenue from plywood and log exports.
Meanwhile, Malaysia is currently developing a national carbon credit system for the forestry sector, termed the Forest Carbon Offset Mechanism, to promote transparent carbon trading and prevent greenwashing.
The mechanism will serve as Malaysia’s primary mechanism for generating carbon credits in the forestry sector for domestic and international markets.
