According the latest report of GTI-Woodbased Panel(GTI-WBP), insufficient raw material supply has been the common problem faced by all wood-based panel manufacturers in pilot countries covered by Global Timber Index-Woodbased Panel (GTI-WBP) Index. The pilot countries are Indonesia ,Malaysia, Thailand, Gabon, Congo, Ghana, Brazil, Mexico and China.

The problem was reported by timber enterprises in Malaysia, Thailand, Gabon, Mexico and other nations at the beginning month of 2025.

“Chinese enterprises reported difficulties in raw material procurenment, Brazilian enterprises said the supply of raw materials for production was unstable, Ghanian enterprises mentioned that poor road conditions led to a shortage of raw materials, and enterprises in the Republic of Congo said heavy rains restricted logging efficiency,’ according to GTI-WBP Index in January 2025 report.

In addition, Thailand enterprises also complained about increased production cost and fierce competition in both buying and selling of the products as the main challenge they faced.

On the other hand, Malaysian enterprises singled out the shortage of logs for producing face veneer while their counterparts in Mexico was unhappy with unregulated entry of imported timber products as well as lack of market and non-competitive price for their products.

In Ghana, the enterprises were hit by more costly prices for logs, fuels and lubricants.

In Brazil, as the return of the main suppliers and customers happened mostly after January 16, this challenge resulted in the reduction in the inflow of raw materials and production and January is traditionally a month of decreased order intake.

To mitigate the challenges, Malaysian enterprises wanted woodchips to be retained for local consumption while Mexico suggested the imports of timber products to be regulated.

Enterprises in Ghana said to reduce raw material costs, this could be done through better negotiation and efficient production design. Ghanian enterprises want bad roads to be fixed and reduce production costs to attract customers.

Last month, the GTI-WBP Index registered 45 per cent, up 2.1 per cent points from December 2024, was below the critical value (50%) for 10 consecutive months, indicating that in the GTI pilot countries, the overall business prosperity of wood-based industry represented by the index shrank month-on-month.

The pilot countries are Indonesia ,Malaysia, Thailand, Gabon, Congo, Ghana, Brazil, Mexico and China.

In 2022, the total production of woodbased panel in these nine countries was 336 million cubic metres (cu m), accounting for 63.8 per cent of the total global production volume of wood-based panel.

On the supply side, the report said the downward trend in wood-based panel production had lasted for 10 months. However, a positive development was the decline had significantly eased and the production was approaching stability.

In January, the production index registered 49.4 per cent, an increase of 9.8 percentage point from December.

Meanwhile, in 2024, China increased the exports of wood-based panel by 24.79 per cent to RM17.8599 million cu m. On the other hand, China reported a 36.02 per cent jump in the imports of wood-based panels to 2.1291 million cu m year-on-year.

In December 2024, Brazilian exports of tropical plywood surged by 83 per cent in volume to 3,300 cu m and 73 per cent jump in value to US$1.9 million as compared to December 2023.

About Global Timber Index
The Global Timber Index (GTI) Platform is a collaborative undertaking between ITTO and the Macao Trade and Investment Promotion Institute (IPIM). The aim is to facilitate the exchange of information and data on the timber trade and promote collaboration among stakeholders in a stable, transparent and predictable business environment as a means for building legal and sustainable forest product supply chains.

Source: ITTO