KUCHING: Sarawak has banned the import of ordinary plywood with thickness of 6mm and above. This comes following the revision of the Sarawak Timber Industry Development Corporation (STIDC) Registration Conditions and Restrictions from April 18, 2019.
The salient terms of revision include ‘Importation of ordinary plywood for thickness of 6mm and above is prohibited into Sarawak,” STIDC general manager Hashim Bojet said in a recent circular to all companies involved in timber and timber related products registered with STIDC.
He did not, however, give the reasons for the import ban.
Meanwhile, in its latest January-March edition of quarterly newsletter, Perkasa, STIDC says the dwindling resources from state natural forests has aggravated the challenges faced by the wood-based industry, particularly in Sarawak, in addition to business volatility and the current global economic situation.
“Transformation plans are crucial in handling these challenges in consonance with the government’s aspiration to sustain the industry so that it will remain as the mainstay of the economy.
“Our transformation plans, among others, aim to encourage the industry to source from planted forests.
Sarawak hopes to establish one million hectares of planted forests by 2025 which could produce four million cubic metres of raw materials annually,” writes the Perkasa
editorial.
STIDC urges industry players to invest in new technology to process raw materials from planted forests.
“Towards this end, we are promoting the new industries to manufacture value-added products, such as engineered wood, biomass, biofuel, pulp and paper and furniture using raw materials from planted forests.
“To complement raw materials from planted forests, industry players are also urged to import resources to cater for their needs.”
STIDC, says the editorial, is also currently promoting rubberwood to produce furniture among furniture entrepreneurs.
It is making collaborative efforts with the related ministries, Forest Department, Sarawak Forest Corporation (SFC) and Rubber Industry Smallholders Development Authority (Risda) to simplify the process to obtain rubberwood.
STIDC is also promoting bamboo as a renewable source of raw materials, and 89 hectares of land at Sabal Forest Reserve have been earmarked for a pilot bamboo plantation
project.
Twelve bamboo species have been identified for
the project.
STIDC and Subur Tiasa Holdings Bhd has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) in July 2018 to implement this pilot project and to develop the bamboo integrated industry.
“To ensure the success of our transformation plans, we are collaborating in terms of research and development activities with the research institutions and other agencies such as Unimas, UITM, UCTS, FRIM, SFC, STA and UPM.
“Through these transformation plans, we are ready to face the current and future challenges in tandem with our vision to spearhead the advancement of timber industry in Sarawak,” concludes the
editorial.
