KUCHING: China has planted over 613 million hectares of national reserve forests in the past 10 years in order to establish a national timber security system.
Started the national reserve forest project in 2012, the project covered 29 provinces (autonomous regions and municipalities), six forest industry (forestry) groups and Xinjinang Production and Construction Corps.
“In the past 10 years, more than 613 million hectares of national reserve forests have been planted and the total stock volume of the project area has increased by 270 million cubic metres with an average annual stock volume growth of about 10.8 cubic metres per hectare. About 150 million cubic metres of timber have been produced from the national reserve forest.
“The construction of national reserve forests has provided a total of more than 3.6 million jobs in the past 10 years and the income of timber output has exceeded RMB 150 billion,” according to the International Tropical Timber Organisation (ITTO) Tropical Timber Market Report (March 16-31, 2023).
The report said based on the Implementation Plan for National Forest Reserve Forests Development during the 14th Five-year period released recently, more than 2.46 million hectares of national reserve forests will be planted and more than 70 million cubic metres of forest stocking volume will be created.
Of the 2.46 million hectares of national reserve forest during the 14th Five-Year Plan period, 1.52 million hectares of medium and short growth cycle industrial raw material forests and nearly 0.94 million hectares of long growth cycle, large diameter timber forest will be cultivated or existing forest will be transformed.
On China’s fibreboard industry, there were some 344 fibreboard manufacturing enterprises at end-2022, a decrease of 19 per cent from 2021.
Last year’s fibreboard production capacity was down by 11 per cent to 47.78 million cubic metres from 2021.
These figures were provided by the Academy of Industry Development and Planning under the National Forestry and Grassland Administration and the China Forestry Products Industry Association.
Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region was the largest in terms of production capacity at 6.98 million cubic metres, exceeding Shandong Province last year.
Shandong Province’s production capacity fell sharply to 6.71 million cubic metres per year, dropping out of the first ranking for the first time but still accounting for 14 per cent of the national total.
According to China Customs data, HS code 4411 imports (including fibreboard + laminated floors) were 94,000 tonnes valued at US$98 million in 2022, down 34 per cent in volume and 26 per cent in value as compared to 2021.
China’s fibreboard imports amounted to 39,000 tonnes worth US$32 million, a decrease of 35 per cent in volume and 25 per cent in value year-on-year in 2022.
New Zealand and Spain were the two top suppliers for China’s fibreboard imports last year.
Year-on-year, China’s fibreboard shipments from New Zealand and Spain plunged 21 per cent and 32 per cent to 17,000 tonnes and 6,000 tonnes respective.
However, China’s fibreboard imports from Germany rose 29 per cent year-on-year to 4,000 tonnes in 2022 while imports from Thailand grew three per cent to 4,000 tonnes last year.
The suppliers from these four countries accounted for nearly 80 per cent of China’s fibreboard imports in 2022.
China also sourced fibreboard from Sarawak, amounting to 267 cubic metres valued at RM403,122 in 2022, according to export data from Sarawak Timber Industry Development Corporation (STIDC).
