Malaysia: Minister seeks to raise plantation productivity September 03, 2009
The Malaysian Minister of Plantation Industries and
Commodities, Mr. Bernard Dompok, said Malaysia needs
to maximize major plantation crop yields. Oil palms,
rubber trees and cocoa trees accounting for the bulk of the
crops, which the Minister is seeking to raise yields without
expanding Malaysia’s existing planted land area.
According to Bernama, he said the Ministry would
encourage ‘better planting materials, good agricultural
practices (GAP) and enhanced research and development
(R&D)’.
Currently, more than 70% of available agricultural land is
already planted with oil palms. The national crude palm
oil (CPO) yield stands at 4 tons per hectare annually.
However, some plantations are able to obtain a yield of 6
to 7 tons per ha. A study conducted by the Malaysian
standard organization, SIRIM Bhd, revealed that 2.65
million hectares of oil palm trees could yield up to 7
million tons of oil palm trunks and 26.2 million tons of oil
palm fronds annually. Oil palm fronds are a rich source of
fiber for the manufacture of MDF and other panel
products. The Minister continues to be hopeful that the
national CPO yield can be raised to 6 tons per hectare,
thus obviating the need to plant another 2 million hectares
of oil palms.
Rubber trees have historically been a popular plantation
species in Malaysia. The current yield of natural rubber
latex in Malaysia is 1.4 tons per hectare annually,
compared to Thailand, which has shown higher yields at
1.8 tons per hectare per annum. Currently, there are 1.24
million hectares of rubber trees in Malaysia. However, the
Malaysian Rubber Board (MRB) has launched the latest
high-yield clone, RRIM 3001, that could yield 2 tons of
natural rubber latex per hectare per year. The MRB is also
working on creating future rubber clones that could yield
at least 2.0 m³ of rubberwood per tree to meet the demands
of the Malaysian furniture industry.
For timber under the country’s forest plantation
programme, the Ministry is looking to produce 75 million
m³ of timber by 2020 to meet the raw material
requirements of the Malaysian timber industry. Soft
commodities accounted for RM112.43 billion of the
country's exports in year 2008, or 17 % of Malaysia's total
exports.
Malaysia Log Prices Malaysia
Log Prices
Sarawak
log, FOB
US$
per m³
Meranti SQ up
226-250 ⇓
Small
210-241 ⇓
Super small
200-224
Keruing SQ up
216-228
Small
190-220 ⇑
Super small
166-196 ⇑
Kapur SQ up
206-231
Selangan Batu SQ up
178-215
Pen. Malaysia
logs, domestic (SQ)
US$ per m³
DR Meranti
231-250
Balau
297-326
Merbau
319-352
Rubberwood
47-81 ⇑
Keruing
214-230
Peninsular
Malaysian meranti logs are top grade and are used for scantlings for
the EU. Their prices are higher than Sarawaks.
Malaysia
Sawnwood Prices
Malaysia
Sawnwood,
FOB
US$
per m³
White Meranti A & up
280-311
Seraya Scantlings (75x125 KD)
437-450⇓
Sepetir Boards
249-271
Sesendok 25,50mm
346-364
Kembang Semangkok
294-317
Malaysian
Sawnwood, domestic
US$ per m³
Balau (25&50mm,100mm+)
325-345
Merbau
570-509⇓
Kempas 50mmx (75,100 & 125mm)
260-300
Rubberwood
25x75x660mm up
197-247 ⇑
50-75mm Sq.
238-270 ⇑
>75mm Sq.
260-289 ⇑
Malaysia Plywood Prices
Malaysia
ply MR BB/CC, FOB
US$
per m³
2.7mm
408-470 ⇓
3mm
386-416 ⇓
9mm & up
332-404 ⇓
Meranti ply
BB/CC, domestic
US$ per m³
3mm
381-422 ⇓
12-18mm
315-344 ⇓
Other
Malaysia Panel Prices
Malaysia,
Other Panels, FOB
US$
per m³
Particleboard Export 12mm & up
226-249 ⇓
Domestic 12mm & up
211-228 ⇓
MDF
Export 15-19mm
281-313 ⇓
Domestic 12-18mm
270-288 ⇓
Malaysia
Added Value Product Prices
Malaysia,
Mouldings, FOB
US$
per m³
Selagan Batu Decking
531-541
Red Meranti Mouldings 11x68/92mm x 7ft up
Grade A
546-559
Grade B
499-508
Malaysia
Furniture and Parts Prices
Malaysia,
Rubberwood, FOB
US$ per piece
Semi-finished dining table solid laminated top
2.5'x4', extension leaf
