The Indonesian Wood Panel Association (Apkindo) has said the Indonesian wood panel industry has been hard hit by the impact of the pandemic and forecasts that production this year will be down by nearly a quarter. Panel production in the first nine months of the year fell 24% to 2.35 million cubic metres.
Adding to the concern of Apkindo is the decline in export prices. Gunawan Salim, speaking for Apkindo, noted how the pandemic and heavy rains disrupted harvesting and log transport, driving down production levels. He suggested that the pandemic will continue to impact production and demand throughout the second half of 2020. Demand for wood panels, especially in the traditional Japanese market, has been trending down.
Source: ITTO Tropical Timber Market Report
