New veneer mills in Gabon are apparently facing a shortage of okoume logs. Heavy rains in the country have hampered logging and transport operations, pointing to poor market sentiment amongst mill owners, who are mostly from India.
Gabon’s economy has struggled, with no indication of the TVA (value added tax) refunds happening any time soon. Furthermore, the government is mulling new taxes on industry to pay for the additional checks being made transport operations.
With the global demand surge for these logs, prices are expected to rise in the coming months.
Source: ITTO
