International Plywood and Veneer Prices 

1-15th February 2006

1. GHANA   

The above prices are for full sized panels, falling sizes minus 15%. Thickness below 1mm would attract a 5% premium.     

   Grade AB/BB would attract a premium of 5%. BB/BB would be 5% less, C/CC 10% less and CC/CC 15% less.    

Added Value Product Prices

Grade 2 less 5%, Grade 3 less 10%.

2. MALAYSIA  

3. Indonesia 

Panel producers unable to fulfil orders
Prices for most wood products went up amid lunar new-year celebrations while those for panel products showed mixed trends. Many Indonesian panel manufacturers have been unable to fulfil orders, affecting the confidence on supplies and bearing down prices. Buyers are increasingly wary of the market situation.

Plywood sector hit by closures and lay-offs
Nearly 50% of Indonesia's 126 plywood factories are lying idle due to difficulties in securing raw material, reported the newspaper "Bisnis Indonesia?"

The wood panel association (Apkindo) lamented that more than 10,000 workers may soon lose their jobs. About 60 of the 126 plywood companies in the country have been forced to cease operation while the rest operate below their production capacity. In 2005 about 350,000
workers lost their jobs in the country, up sharply from 138,000 in 2004. Almost half of the lay-offs were in the wood-processing industry, followed by the textile and garment sector.

Hadi Susanto, Director General, Forestry Research & Development Agency (FORDA) of the Ministry of Forestry, indicated that many Indonesian plywood companies are neither efficient nor competitive as most of them are still using old machines. Painful adjustments may come down to more worker lay-offs.

Domestic prices include taxes and may be subject to discounts.

5. PERU 

  

  　

6. Guyana 

Abbreviations