Malaysia’s wood export value declines 19.1% in January to August 2023

JOHOR BARU: The nation’s export value of wood and wood products decreased by 19.1% year-on-year to RM14bil between January and August this year, compared to RM17.3bil in the same period last year.

However, the Malaysian Timber Industry Board (MTIB) chairman Datuk Larry Sng Wei Shien said the decline was a global situation.

“During the Covid-19 pandemic, global furniture sales had increased as more people bought furniture, but after the borders were reopened, maybe people’s focus shifted to tourism or other products,” he said to reporters after officiating the Wood and Lifestyle Fair (WLF) 2023-Southern Region closing ceremony here yesterday.

He said that despite the slow sales market this year, he is confident that the timber industry can reach the export target of RM28bil and the domestic market value of RM20bil by 2025, in line with the National Agricommodity Policy 2021-2030, supported by the National Timber Industry Strategic Plan 2021-2025.

“We believe that sales will increase again next year, we can see the uptrend now and I believe we can reach the sales target with the people’s support,” he said.

According to Sng, the domestic market accounts for as much as 60% of the country’s timber sector’s sales.

“This year, Malaysia ranks 14th globally among wood furniture-producing countries, so we are one of the major players in this industry.

“To ensure that we can achieve the target set by 2025, MTIB actively promotes the use of wood through various campaigns, including in the mass media and social media as well as involvement in local and international exhibitions,” he said.

Sng said the WLF is one of the initiatives to promote wood furniture in the domestic market.

“This year, we have held WLF exhibitions in Putrajaya and Pahang, and now in Johor Baru.

“The first WLF was held in 2016 and since then, WLF has generated sales totalling RM53.5mil as of March this year,” he said. — BK