KUCHING: In regards to timber industry in the state, the currently installed capacity is about 11 million cubic metres as compared to the annual log production of 7 million cubic metres per year.
This was revealed to reporters by Second Minister of Resource Planning and Environment Datuk Amar Haji Awang Tengah Ali Hasan, who is also the Minister for Industrial and Entrepreneur Development, Trade, and Investment, after officiating the state-level Lean Management Seminar 2017 which was held at the Borneo Convention Centre Kuching (BCCK) here on Wednesday.
Based on that scenario, he has urged the timber industry players to upgrade their technology in order to improve their productivity and recovery from the log processing.
The minister said this is due to the depletion of raw materials and the planted forest production is not in full capacity yet, causing the primary processing industry experiences shortage of raw materials
“The tree plantations can be quite slow, so there is s a need for the manufacturing sector like sawmills to upgrade their technology so that they can maximise whatever they have.
“This is something that we can do and we need to work closely with the private sector so that they can upgrade their manufacturing processes,” he said.
He also advised the timber industry to intensify their research and development (R&D) initiatives to produce more value-added products to increase their recovery rate, also calling them to work closely with agencies which already have established R&D facilities and capabilities.
He added that the timber industry players should also consider producing by-products such as pellets (biomass), charcoal briquettes, and furniture components which will add value to the log
input of the primary processing industry.
