Market analysis for Acrean timbers

In the state of Acre (Brazil), keys of development are the valorization of natural resources, which include non-ligneous and timber products. The need to develop a sustainable wood industry lead to assess markets that can be targeted from Acre in an sustainable and economic way. The objective of this analysis is so to highlight the opportunities and the marketing strategies that are the most suitable from a timber business point of view, in the specific context of Acre. Care should be taken that all the conclusions that can be interpreted from this work are valid from a timber business point of view, but these market considerations don’t necessarily prevail on other considerations, such as social or political ones. From a general point of view, Acre State, despite its remote location, is not independent of the globalization process. This means that the market analysis is required to start from the world level markets, and has to deepen progressively down to national, regional and local levels, in order to correctly isolate which are the competitive advantages and disadvantages of the specific Acrean context.

Cambodia Report : Feeding China's Expanding Demand for Wood Pulp

After decades of war, Cambodia is one of the world's poorest nations, its economy and its political life are still suffering from the civil war that racked the country during the latter part of the 20th century. Rice and rubber were traditionally the principal exports of Cambodia, but exports fell sharply after the onset of the civil war, which put most of the rubber plantations out of operation. By the 1990s, however, rubber plantings had been undertaken as part of a national recovery program, and rubber and rice were again being exported. The fishing industry has also somehow been revived, but some food shortages continue. From this period, the largest source of export income has been timber, until the Cambodian government set up a “log export” ban in 1995. With a rather limited national environment supporting the development of an internationally competitive wood processing industry, this industry sector has not benefited from this ban. Wood material exports have continued under a limited processed form, i.e. squared logs and thick boards. Up to now, no development of any wood pulp or chipping industry has been impossible in Cambodia. Additionally, in 2002, any logging activity has been suspended for any forest companies, until the approval of their new forest concessions. Some forest companies which had old logs (harvested before 2001) were still authorized to process them. Further, in 2003, a large portion of the territory (about 24%) was declared as protected area. The industrial growth of the country is now mainly sustained by the garment and tourism sectors. But until now, inadequate transportation hampers the development of national industries, except in some “development pockets”. This poor transportation is a major impediment for the development of pulp wood plantations or pulp and chipping industries in Cambodia.forest; tropical forest; pulp; paper; economy; Cambodia; trade; network; globalisation; China

Community forestry in Tanimbar, and industrial prospective scenarios

In its present state, the analysis of the wood industry system in Tanimbar archipelago only covered the South part of the Yamdena island. In this part of the island, the wood industry system feeds the demand of the local villages and of Saumlaki. Among the villages of South Yamdena, two villages (Wermatan and Ilngei) are remarkable with their high level of wood activities. Thus these are analysed in the following sections. In the north part of the Island, the system feeds the local villages, the city of Larat, but also some outer markets. While the structure of the system is certainly very similar to what has been analysed in the southern part of the island, the quantities may defer in a great proportion.

Malaysia : Feeding China's Expanding Demand for Wood Pulp

Malaysia has a total capacity pulp and paper production at over 1 million T/year. The country is a net importer of pulp, paper, and paper board, and progressively tends to decrease its dependency. However, the self-sufficiency is growing at a slow rate. All the paper mills of the country are small by the world industry standards, none producing more than 300 000 T/Year. The Malaysian government has identified this particular industry sector as one of the priority areas for investment in the second industrial master plan (IMP2). The strategy is to achieve a state of self sufficiency, to reduce import, and to encourage foreign capital inflow. The industry was one of the industries to survive the economic downturn resulting from the “Asian crisis” in 1997, as much as the softening of the economy following the September 11th, 2001 event. No paper mill was closed down or taken over by larger companies at these occasions. The paper mills survived by remaining small but efficient, while cutting the cost of production at the same time. The industry also managed to remain buoyant by focusing on niche markets at the national scale. The Malaysian pulp and paper industry is heavily dependant on imported fibre, particularly virgin pulp, and is also facing the need to find a new source of fibre to strengthen and retain the quality of secondary fibres as the use of recycled paper is growing in Malaysia. As for the other wood-based Malaysian industries, further development of integration of downstream activities is highly promoted. The utilisation of wood waste is promoted through the emphasis on R&D and technology improvements. Meanwhile, more forest plantation projects are planned to ensure a sufficient and steady source of fibre supply in the long run. Other sources of supply are non-wood materials, such as oil palm residues; Kenaf (Hibiscus cannabinus) are also presented as alternatives to wood fibre.forest; tropical forest; pulp; paper; economy; Malaysia; trade; network; globalisation; China

Vietnam : Feeding China's Expanding Demand for Wood Pulp

Regarding the forest sector, in a context of substantial areas of denuded and bare lands (initially around 25% of Vietnam area), forestry rehabilitation and development plans have been continuously on the focus in Vietnam since the end of the war. The first projects were planned under an existing broader program, the United Nations World Food program (1975-200). These projects essentially concerned agro-forestry and demonstrations trials. Vietnam started its economic renovation policy (known as “Doi Moi”) in 1986 with a series of major economic programs and industrial development plans1. Among them, the program 327 (1993-1998) was initially planning substantial effort to rehabilitate forest degraded lands. It soon shifted to focus on forest protection in critical zones. Finally, the program 661 (1998-2010), also known as “Five million hectares reforestation program” (5MHRP), really put the emphasis on a substantial increment of the nation's forest areas. By the end of this program, the national forests are expected to cover more than 14 million hectares. The program includes both protection of existing forests and reforestation. Initially, Most of the production plantations were planned to be established with fast growing exogenous species (i.e. eucalyptus). Now, the government is promoting the development of indigenous species as much as possible.forest; tropical forest; pulp; paper; economy; Vietnam; trade; network; globalisation; China