KUALA LUMPUR: The Malaysian Timber Industry Board (MTIB) reported timber sector exports of RM10.46 billion (approx. US$ 3.77 billion) in the first half of the year. Wooden furniture exports accounted for the biggest share of wood product exports at RM3.33 billion (31.8% of the total).
Plywood exports ranked second at RM2.25 billion (21.5%) followed by sawnwood exports at RM1.47 billion (14.0%). Log exports comprised just under 10% of all wood product exports at RM998 million in the first half of this year.
Exports of wooden furniture were mainly from manufacturers in Peninsular Malaysia. Furniture exports from Sabah and Sarawak combined contributed barely 1% to total furniture exports.
On the other hand, Sarawak is the biggest exporter of plywood (918,286 cu.m or 72% of Malaysia‘s total plywood export) and exporters in Sabah shipped 248,500 cu.m accounting for another 20% of total plywood exports. Plywood mills in Peninsular Malaysia shipped 102,280 cu.m or 8% of total plywood shipments.
Peninsular Malaysia was the leading exporter of sawnwood at 636,340 cu.m followed by Sarawak 276,080 cu.m and Sabah 107,000.
Companies in Sarawak dominated the log export trade by Malaysia shipping around 1,388,900 cu.m or 88.7% of total log exports in the first half of this year. Main export markets for Malaysian wood products.
