Timber exports reach $1 billion, says ministry

The trade value of teak, hardwood, plywood and other wood products exported overseas amounted $916 million, while timber exported overland reached $31 million, according to government statistics.

Teak logs were the largest export with a value of $638 million while nearly 34,328 tonnes of teak lumber was exported with a net worth of $31.552 million.

Over 590,000 tonnes of hardwood logs, worth $222 million, and hardwood lumber weighing over 9,000 tonnes as well as 18,000 tonnes of plywood was shipped abroad.

After a nationwide ban in exports of raw timber on April 1 aimed at preventing deforestation, foreign investors have shown growing interest in wood-based furniture production.

From 2001 to 2013, illegal timber exports amounted to 16.5 million cubic metres with a net worth of $5.7 billion, according to a report from the Environmental Investigation Agency (EIA).

The report titled “Data Corruption” shows a billion-dollar gap in trade during the last 15 years between the Myanmar government’s records of timber exports and information from worldwide log traders.

The statistics of Ministry of Environmental Conservation and Forestry shows that Myanmar exported only 28 per cent of international timber meaning that the remaining 72 per cent of was done illegally. In the last 14 years, 8 million cubic metres of wood was traded without the permission of the Myanmar Timber Enterprise (MTE).

The state-owned Myanma Timber Enterprise (MTE) under the Ministry of Environmental Conservation and Forestry is now operating all domestic timber extraction. In an attempt to curb illegal logging, the ministry has announced the suspension of timber exports starting from April 1. Much of the illegal timber finds its way to Yunnan province in China, amounting to some estimates up to losses of $413 million per year.

Moreover, the illegal log trading with Yunnan, China amounted to $413 million every year. According to their data, the EIA has refuted statements by the Myanmar government saying that illegal logging is only occurring in ethnic regions. 

The Kachin Legal Aid Network also revealed recently that illegal timber smuggling on the Myitkyina-Bhamo road in Kachin State continued despite an all-night ban on road travel.

The government banned night travel due to ongoing skirmishes between the army and the Kachin Independence Army. Despite the ban, some companies still appear to be cutting and transporting timber, mostly to China.

“Despite the fighting now breaking out in Kachin State, there is illegal timber extractions taking place. The authorities open the Myitkyina-Bhamo road section in the afternoon. But nobody can go anywhere in the evening. At that time, the logs are illegally being extracted,” said Khun Naung, chairman of Kachin Legal Aid Network.