There’s a mix of satisfaction and frustration at the Malaysian Timber Council‘s London office. The satisfaction stems from the fact that sales of Malaysian hardwood products in the UK have proved pretty robust over the past 18 months. Sluggish economic performance in some other western European countries may have depressed their demand, but in the UK consumer confidence and relatively resilient property and construction markets, have kept consumption healthy across the board.
Latest figures show sawn timber sales rising from 2003 to 2004 from M$74.1m (£10.9m) to M$81.6m, mouldings from M$27.4m to M$28.7m, fibreboard from M$11.4m to M$38.7m and builder’s carpentry and joinery from M$90m to M$98m.
“The biggest increase came in hardwood plywood, which rose from M$106m to M$296m,” said MTC director SK Tham. “This was probably partly on the back of environmental concerns about some other tropical products.”
Malaysian wood furniture sales to the UK also rose sharply, from M$448m to M$555m. “The UK remains Malaysia’s biggest market for rubberwood furniture in Europe,” said Mr Tham, “and there’s also strong demand for hardwood garden products, including furniture and decking in species, such as balau.”
The figures have not yet been released for 2005 to date, but signs are that Malaysian exports to the UK have held up, despite a dip in economic confidence.
Why, against this seemingly healthy market background, there’s still some frustration at the MTC is because of the continuing difficulty Malaysia’s timber industry is having reaching an accord with some western environmental groups.
According to Mr Tham, environmental issues have assumed huge importance for the country in recent years and it has made major advances in sustainable forest management and certification.
“It’s becoming a big issue for the MTC as well,” said Mr Tham. “In western Europe we’re addressing environmental questions on a very frequent basis.”
Among the facts that the MTC tells western European buyers, traders and specifiers is that the Malaysian Timber Certification Council (MTCC) certification scheme now extends to 4.67 million ha of Peninsular Malaysia’s 4.7 million ha of “permanent reserved forest”.
“The scheme also covers 55,949ha of forests in Sarawak, which until recently was fairly reluctant to even consider certification,” said Mr Tham.
With the increase in certified forest, the availability of certified timber has grown steadily and the total exported to Europe since 2002 is over 30,000m3.
The Malaysians also maintain that the MTCC scheme itself has developed in response to environmentalist criticism and advice. Its initial forest management standard was based on the “criteria and indicators” of the International Tropical Timber Organisation. Subsequently a standard using the “principles and criteria” of the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) was developed through “multi-stakeholder consultations” and this is now being implemented.
This new standard, MC&I 2002, was not submitted for FSC endorsement as the multi-stakeholder National Steering Committee (NSC) did not entirely follow the FSC rules and processes in its deliberations. “But the NSC has now initiated the process towards the setting up of an FSC National Working Group,” said Mr Tham. “It is hoped that this will look at the MC&I 2002 and, where necessary, revise it with the aim of achieving FSC endorsement.”
He also pointed out that the MTCC scheme has been sanctioned by the Central Point of Expertise on Timber, set up by the UK Department of Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, as proof that the timber it certifies is legal. With the latest revisions, it hopes to meet the higher “proof of sustainability” rating. Despite these developments, the MTCC scheme has continued to come in for criticism from some environmental activists. “One allegation is that the MTCC does not sufficiently take social issues into account or consult widely enough with stakeholders,” said Mr Tham. “We dispute this. Some social groups did pull out of the discussions on the development of the MC&I 2002. But if they do not want to be involved, that’s their choice.”
But, although the Malaysians may still have points to argue on the certification front, they seem confident they’re headed in the right direction.
“Certification has been a major challenge,” said Mr Tham. “But we have made progress – we have a third-party audited certification scheme in place and over 4 million ha of forest certified. In this respect we’re in advance of any other tropical timber producer.”
He added that another thorny environmental issue, the smuggling of illegally felled Indonesian timber into Malaysia, is also being tackled. “The Environmental Investigation Agency has acknowledged that this has been significantly reduced,” he said.
So in spite of the remaining frustrations, the MTC is looking forward to continuing to develop the market presence of Malaysian hardwoods in the UK, a fact it is underlining by sponsoring the Wood Awards 2005 and exhibiting in the Timber Zone at Interbuild 2006.
