Indonesian panel manufacturers hit by slump in demand giugno 13, 2009
According to Bloomberg News, the Japanese economy
declined sharply in January to March 2009, with GDP
falling an annualized 15.2%. Meanwhile, Channel News
Asia reported US housing starts and building permits
dropped by 3.3% from March to April 2009 to an annual
rate of 494,000 units. The statistics, announced by the US
Commerce Department, showed the lowest results since
the data began to be collected in 1959. The weak demand
for products in both the US and Japan continue to hit
Indonesian plywood and panel-products manufacturers
hard.
However, as local spending expands rapidly and with GDP
standing at 4.4% for the first quarter of 2009, Indonesian
timber product manufacturers were beginning to look to
the local market to help mitigate the recession, as
consumer confidence reached a four-year high in April
2009. Bloomberg News reported that consumer spending
increased sharply by 5.8% in the first quarter of 2009,
from 4.8% in fourth quarter of 2008.
APHI warns too many levies hurt Indonesian
competitiveness
The Association of Indonesian Forest Concessionaires
(APHI) has indicated total levies on forest-based
industries, including those imposed by local governments,
account for more than 30% of the production cost of local
forestry companies. APHI officials said the levies are not
only a burden to forestry companies but also render
Indonesian timber products less competitive in comparison
to Malaysia and China’s timber products. According to
The Jakarta Post, total levies imposed on timber products
in neighboring countries in Southeast Asia stand at 15% or
less.
In addition, the levies could amount to as much as USD30
per m³ for every USD100 per m³ of timber product sold.
There are a total of 28 types of levies imposed on
Indonesian timber products, ranging from property taxes
to forestry commissions. Moreover, the federal
government mandates that timber product manufacturers
must source their raw materials from production forests
instead of natural forests. As a result, manufacturers have
lost access to an important raw material supply. Current
output from production forests are on a decline.
Statistics compiled by the Central Statistics Agency
(BPS), indicated that Indonesia’s exports of plywood have
declined from a high of USD3.4 billion in 1997 to USD1.5
billion in 2008. Both sawnwood and other timber product
exports have also dropped by value from 1997 to 2008. A
forecast by the Association of Indonesian Wood Panel
Producers (Apkindo) indicated that the plywood industry
could contract by another 40% in 2009.
