| ¡¡ Malaysian Furniture and Rubberwood Parts
The export quota on sawn Rubberwood will be abolished from February 2002. The quota was
introduced in 1990 to encourage downstream processing as well as to maintain the prices of
sawn Rubberwood on the domestic market. However over the years there have been many
changes to the allowable cut and these frequent changes have caused confusion and
controversy in the timber trade. In the current ruling, in addition to abolishing the
export quota, the export levy is also reduced to RM60 per cubic meter (US$16 per cubic
meter). According to the Minister of Primary Industries the decision to abolish the quota
and the levy reduction are aimed at giving exporters the flexibility to sell without
restraint.
According to industry sources, this move is unavoidable as, currently, the supply of
Rubberwood logs far out-weighs demand due to slack demand for Rubberwood finished
products. It is also understood that some exporters were relying on the export of
Rubberwood sawntimber for their business and over the last 8 - 12 months countries such as
China and Vietnam ,who do not have adequate Rubberwood resources to meet their own
industry needs, were switching to Thailand, Indonesia and some other countries for
supplies and Malaysia was losing out.
Many in the trade are saying that it is ironic that, in trying to re-capture markets
for Rubberwood sawntimber markets in countries local industries being put at risk. They
also say that Government might have overlooked the multi-billion dollar investment that
have been made by industrialists in Malaysia to establish the downstream industries based
on Rubberwood.
Chinese and Vietnamese exports of Rubberwood furniture compete with Malaysian exports
because production costs are much lower in these countries than in Malaysia.
Some industrialists are also questioning the on-and-off policy changes with respect to
Rubberwood sawntimber and most believe that it is more important to focus on the long term
strategy for the industry and avoid frequent policy changes. |
