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Non-coniferous Sawnwood

Total consumption of non-coniferous sawnwood in the Asia-Pacific increased 152% from 20 million m3 in 1962 to 50 million m3 in 1992, while its region's share of the world total rose from 25% to 43% (Table 30). The consumption grew faster in India, China, Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, the Republic of Korea, and Pakistan, while it declined in Japan, Australia and the Philippines. In 1992, the leading consumers were India with 15 million m3, China with 9, Indonesia with 8, Japan with 5, and Thailand with 3 million m3.

India registered the fastest growth in consumption during the late 1970s and early 1980s. By 1992, India's consumption accounted for nearly 30% of the region's total. While Indonesia's consumption began to rise in the mid-1970s, the trend changed after the government banned log exports in 1980 and sawnwood exports in 1989. Between 1980 and 1992, consumption doubled from 4 million m3 to 8 million m3.

In Malaysia, consumption was cyclic during the 1980s, and fell from 4 to 2 million m3 between 1983 and 1987. Since then, it has recovered gradually and climbed back to 39 million m3 in 1992. Non-coniferous consumption in China increased at a faster rate since the economic reform started in 1978, and topped at 11 million m3 in 1988. After that, however, the consumption began to fall and was about 9 million m3 in 1992.

Japan's non-coniferous sawnwood consumption experienced tremendous changes over the last three decades. During the 1960s and early 1970s, Japan had a fast growth in consumption corresponding to the rapid post-war economic growth. By 1973 total consumption had reached 12 million m3. Since the oil crisis, however, consumption began to decline steadily, and by 1992 it dropped back to 5 million m3, or 13% less than in 1962. The reduction in hardwood sawnwood consumption was due mainly to the competition with softwood species.

Table 30. Consumption of non-coniferous sawnwood, in thousand m3, 1962-1992.

Country

1962

1972

1982

1992

Australia

2481

2790

2312

1610

Bangladesh

295

116

204

84

Bhutan

0

0

6

40

Cambodia

59

43

43

50

China

3736

5833

8813

9061

Fiji

26

39

62

51

French Polynesia





Hong Kong

255

167

434

407

India

1465

4384

11299

14956

Indonesia

1745

1567

5580

7589

Japan

5337

11272

6701

4638

Korea Dem People's Rep

95

95

95

95

Korea Rep

178

535

960

1492

Laos

11

13

15

7

Macau

3

5

3

14

Malaysia

1140

1987

3297

3911

Myanmar

423

561

618

-27

Nepal

208

216

220

620

New Caledonia

5

5

4

2

New Zealand

100

69

60

66

Pakistan

56

109

121

1006

Papua New Guinea

25

136

57

70

Philippines

835

1181

609

392

Samoa

6

26

31

23

Singapore

11

386

482

218

Solomon Islands

3

6

8

8

Sri Lanka

129

37

28

25

Thailand

824

2059

1257

2855

Tonga

0

0

13

5

Vanuatu

0

4

2

6

Viet Nam

400

454

338

757

Asia Pacific

19851

34095

43672

50031

World

78875

99301

109687

115809

Share

25%

34%

40%

43%

Table 31 shows the production of non-coniferous sawnwood, by country and territory, between 1962 and 1992. The total production in the region grew steadily from 21 million m3 in 1962 to 53 million m3 in 1989, while its world share rose from 26% to 42%. This growth in production was due to increased demand for tropical hardwood sawnwood from consumers within and outside the region, mostly Thailand, Japan and the European Union. However, since 1990, production has decreased especially in Indonesia, Japan, China, Philippines, and the Republic of Korea. By 1992, the region's share of world production had decreased to 39 %.

Table 31. Production of non-coniferous sawnwood, in thousand m3, 1962-1992.

Country

1962

1972

1982

1992

Australia

2428

2579

2079

1464

Bangladesh

295

116

203

79

Bhutan

0

0

6

40

Cambodia

71

43

43

122

China

3778

6012

8576

7865

Fiji

28

40

63

51

French Polynesia





Hong Kong





India

1447

4384

11295

14960

Indonesia

1750

1674

6802

8300

Japan

5538

10929

6057

3106

Korea Dem People's Rep

95

95

95

95

Korea Rep

168

541

857

703

Laos

12

48

22

110

Macau





Malaysia

1696

3729

6307

9300

Myanmar

522

670

722

282

Nepal

180

210

210


New Caledonia

5

5

4

2

New Zealand

71

56

46

57

Pakistan

50

85

7

926

Papua New Guinea

27

146

78

74

Philippines

958

1412

1200

448

Samoa

1

30

21

21

Singapore

21

828

229

20

Solomon Islands

3

5

15

16

Sri Lanka

126

37

21

5

Thailand

917

1952

911

1077

Tonga

0

0

1

0

Vanuatu

0

5

2

7

Viet Nam

400

451

338

747

Asia Pacific

20587

36082

46210

49877

World

79174

99962

109712

128915

Share

26%

36%

42%

39%

In 1992, the major producers of non-coniferous sawnwood were India with 15 million m3, Malaysia with 9, Indonesia and China with 8, and Japan with 3 million m3. Malaysia remains the major producer of tropical sawnwood. Both Thailand and the Philippines were producing significant quantities of sawnwood from imported tropical logs, even though production in both countries dropped sharply in 1993, corresponding to a log ban in Sabah, Malaysia (Johnson, 1995).

The imports and exports of non-coniferous sawnwood are in Tables 32 and 33. The Asia-Pacific region imported 7 million m3 and exported almost 8 million m3 in 1992, or 43% and 48% of global imports and exports. Thailand led all countries in imports with 1.8 million m3, a 425% increase from 1982, followed by Japan with 1.6 and China with 1.4 million m3. Singapore and the Republic of Korea imported almost 1 million m3 each. Thailand's logging ban, together with its fast growing economy and large furniture and secondary processing industry, are the main reasons for expanded imports. The principal source is Malaysia (74%), followed by Viet Nam and Laos which together account for 24% (Table 34).

Table 32. Imports of non-coniferous sawnwood, in thousand m3, 1962-1992.

Country

1962

1972

1982

1992

Australia

127

241

273

163

Bangladesh

0

0

1

5

Bhutan





Cambodia





China

1

4

293

1423

Fiji

1

0

1

0

French Polynesia





Hone Kong

52

51

163

248

India

19

1

4

3

Indonesia

3

0

0

0

Japan

15

425

678

1551

Korea Dem People's Rep





Korea Rep

10

12

108

792

Laos

3

5

3

14

Macau

3

5

3

14

Malaysia

28

60

81

28

Myanmar





Nepal





New Caledonia





New Zealand

29

19

17

12

Pakistan

6

24

114

80

Papua New Guinea

0

0

0

0

Philippines





Samoa

5

4

16

2

Singapore

0

356

1118

923

Solomon Islands

0

1

0

0

Sri Lanka

3

0

7

20

Thailand

1

165

347

1822

Tonga

0

0

12

5

Vanuatu





Viet Nam

0

3

0

10

Asia Pacific

306

1376

3239

7115

World

4460

8166

11328

16517

Share

7%

7%

29%

43%

Japan's imports also more than doubled between 1982 and 1992, from 678 thousand m3 to 1.6 million m3. In 1992, imports accounted for one-third of Japan's consumption. Increased wooden housing starts, a decline in log availability and increasing prices for both logs and substitute materials are responsible for the increase. Japan's main import source has historically been Indonesia until 1990, when the volume was radically reduced. Other important suppliers during the 1980s included Malaysia and the Philippines. As shown in Table 34, in 1992, Japan obtained nearly 41% of its non-coniferous sawnwood from Malaysia, 23% from Indonesia, 9% from China, and more than 25% from outside the Asia-Pacific, mostly from North America.

Prior to the late 1970s, China was generally self-sufficient in non-coniferous sawnwood, and imports were negligible. With the increased consumption and decline in production, import requirements have risen sharply from 293 thousand m3 in 1982 to 1.4 million m3 in 1992. Of the 1992's volume, Indonesia supplied 32%, Malaysia 30% and the United States 21 %.

The European Union has been the main outside importer of Asian-Pacific non-coniferous sawnwood. In 1992, the total imports of EU were 1.5 million m, or one-fifth of the region's total exports. Continued economic stagnation in many of Western European countries along with growing environmental concerns contributed to a decline in European consumption of tropical sawnwood in the last few years.

Table 33. Exports of non-coniferous sawnwood, in thousand m3, 1962-1992.

Country

1962

1972

1982

1992

Australia

74

30

40

17

Bangladesh





Bhutan





Cambodia

12

0

0

72

China

43

183

56

227

Fiji

3

1

2

0

French Polynesia





Hong Kong

17

9

48

262

India

1

1

0

7

Indonesia

8

107

1222

711

Japan

216

82

34

19

Korea Dem People's Rep





Korea Rep

0

18

5

3

Laos

1

35

7

103

Macau





Malaysia

584

1802

3091

5417

Myanmar

99

109

104

309

Nepal

0

4

0

0

New Caledonia





New Zealand

0

6

3

3

Pakistan





Papua New Guinea

2

10

21

4

Philippines

123

231

591

56

Samoa

0

8

6

0

Singapore

10

798

865

725

Solomon Islands

0

0

7

8

Sri Lanka

0

0

0

0

Thailand

94

58

1

44

Tonga





Vanuatu

0

1

1

1

Viet Nam





Asia Pacific

1287

3493

6104

7988

World

4759

8827

11353

16622

Share

27%

40%

54%

48%

The Asia-Pacific region's exports of non-coniferous sawnwood rose rapidly over the last decades from 1.3 million m3 in 1962 to 8 million m3 in 1992, with a peak of 10 million m3 in 1989 or 57% of global exports. In the latter part of 1989, however, the Indonesia government levied heavy taxes on sawnwood exports, which reduced Indonesia's exports. Prior to 1989, Malaysia and Indonesia were the two main exporters of the region. By volume, Malaysia exported more than 51% of the region's total, and Indonesia 27%. Since 1989, Malaysia has continued to dominate the trade in non-coniferous sawnwood, with 5.4 million m3 exported in 1992 constituting 68% of total Asia-Pacific exports. In contrast, Indonesia's exports dropped to 711 thousand m3, or about only 9% in 1992. Table 28 shows that Indonesia's exports in 1992 were 1.3 million m3, which is much larger than the number in Table 33. This inconsistency may be because some of Indonesia's exports to Singapore were re-exported, and in the FAO's data (Table 33), re-exported volumes were included in Singapore's total. One can note that the number for Singapore in Table 34 is significantly less than the one in Table 33.

Table 34. Direction of trade in non-coniferous sawnwood, in thousand m3, 1992.

Of the region's total exports, over 72% went to countries within the region, and one-fifth went to the European Union, primarily the Netherlands and UK. Malaysia's major non-coniferous sawnwood customers are Thailand, the European Union, Japan, China, Republic of Korea, and Singapore. For Indonesia, the leading importers include Japan, China, the European Union, and Singapore.


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