The global demand for processed timber products is at a peak and Guyana is well-positioned to capitalise on that market according to a paper produced in February by the Guyana Forestry Commission.
The GFC paper names China, the United Kingdom, Denmark, the Netherlands and Vietnam as being among countries that have “a very high demand for sawn and tropical wood products which are similar to Guyana’s species.”
The GFC paper says that Guyana’s share of the international market for processed wood products continues to be small despite current attractive prices. The paper also indicates that the local forestry products sector has been unable to make a significant impact on the regional market.
Of the more than US$2b worth of tropical wood products imported by the United States in 2005 the total value of Guyana’s exports to that country was US$9,044,000 or 0.43 per cent of market share while of the US$882,300,000 worth of similar products imported by the United Kingdom during the same year the value of Guyana’s share of that market was a mere US$6,656,971 or 0.75 per cent of total UK wood product imports. According to the figures published by the GFC the value of Guyana’s share of the US$1.4b Chinese wood product imports reached US$2m or 0.14 per cent while in the case of Vietnam Guyana exported a total of US$40,000 out of a total Vietnamese wood products imports of US$303m in 2005.
The GFC paper paints an equally disappointing picture of local processed wood products exports to Caricom countries with exports to Barbados totalling US$6,825,000 – 14 per cent of market share – out of total Barbadian imports of US$49,299,207 in 2005. The value of wood products exports to Grenada in 2005 reached US$1,763,165 out of a total Grenadian imports of US$18,385,344. In the cases of other Caricom territories Guyana’s market share of wood products imports by those countries – Trinidad and Tobago, Jamaica, St. Lucia and Antigua ranged from 1 per cent to 4 per cent.
The potential economic returns from processed wood products have served to intensify the local lobby for reduced log exports. The GFC paper says that the economic returns of forest added-value sector to the economy are significant compared with the export of unprocessed logs. Additionally, according to the paper, the manufacturing sector has contributed significantly to employment, technology transfer and social services and through technological advances in value-added ,manufacturing, has been able to “successfully penetrate quality sensitive, environmentally conscious markets.”
Local loggers have refuted claims made by manufacturers that they have been unable to secure adequate supplies of raw material. The loggers point to recent advertisements in the local media for supplies of timber to which the Forest Producers Association (FPA) say there have been “very few responses.” An FPA source told Stabroek Business that local manufacturers are not prepared to pay the prices that can be secured on the international market.
Statistics published by the GFC in its February paper indicate that increasing volumes of local timber and plywood have been exported over the past three years.
The GFC says that the “huge unsatisfied export market” for timber products coupled with prevailing high prices justify a reduction in log exports and greater emphasis on the development of the sector through value added production.
Official concern over increasing Guyana’s share of the international market for processed timber and timber products has led to sharp differences between the GFC and local log exporters with the GFC insisting that current market conditions make a compelling case for value added production in the forestry sector.
