Asia - Pacific hardwoods

lJ ARDWOODS of Asia and the I I Pacific Basin will rise both in prices and quantities ofexports during the next five years, according to a new Bank of America commodity report.

Prices of hardwoods will increase by an average 13% a year through 1981, the report says. A major factor in the price increases will be increased production cost in Asia where operations must be expanded into less accessible forests.

"For the industry, the long-term outlook is bright," the bank says in its report, "Asia-Pacific Report: Hardwoods 1977-1981."

Worldwide, imports will increase 6% - 7% per year through 1981, the report says, exceeding the export capacity of major producing coun- tries, including Indonesia, Malaysia and the Philippines.

Story at a Glance

Hardwood prices will increase by an average of 13o/o a year thru 1981 more logging in remote spots . . . longterm outlook for hardwood business is bright.

Other areas of the Pacific Basin, such as Papua New Guinea, will be able to provide additional hardwood for export, but not all that is needed. Tropical forests of Africa and Latin America are not expected to expand

Table 1 Regional Shares of Production and Exports of Tropical Hardwoodi1974

exports enough to close the gap between demand and supply. Lack of adequate roads, power and dock facilities arc contributing factors. "The gap will have to be filled by the use of Asia-Pacific species not now considered commercially acceptable," the report notes.

The bank survey says that three fourths of all hardwood exports from the Asia-Pacific region are in the form of logs. The rest is processed into lumber, plywood, veneer and railroad ties.

Japan dominates the roundwood marketplace, purchasing almost 75% of the region's log exports. ln 1977, Japan's log imports will exceed 23 million cubic meters, an increase of 8.8% from 21.6 million cubic meters purchased in 1976. During the next five years, the report says Japanese demand for tropical hardwood in all forms is expected to rise about 7% per year, reaching 30 million cubic meters in 1981.

In the United States, demand for lauan,lauan plywood and mahogany for furniture and decorative house paneling is expected to climb 7% annually, from about 7 million cubic meters in 1916 ro l0 million in 1981, the report says.

Europe will continue to be an important market for Asia-Pacific hardwood, but growth in demand will lag behind that of Japan, the United States and the Middle East, the report adds.

Bank of America's report on AsiaPacific hardwoods also contains written and graphic analysis of hardwood consumption, trade and worldwide forest resources.

* Roundwood equivalent. ** Estimated. + Projected.

-for gu.popg oI this report, the Asia-Pacific region irrludes only Southeast Asia, East Asia, and Oceania

New Guinea, Australia, British Solonpns, etc.). Not all countries within the region are producers.

Source: "Hardwoods-\4brld Supply and Demandj'S. L. Pringle, Unasylva, 1969.