28 February 2014: The International Tropical Timber Organization (ITTO) launched the 16 – 28 February issue of the Tropical Timber Market (TTM) Report, highlighting a new labeling system in Japan to identify domestically made furniture sourced from verified legal wood production.

The newsletter also reveals that a majority of logs exported from Sarawak, Malaysia were imported by India, accounting for 60 percent of production and over US$300 million. The newsletter also announced a delay in final payments for raw teak log exports from Myanmar. The revised deadline has been set for 31 March 2014 ahead of the 1 April deadline for shipment.

In Brazil, the newsletter notes that limited exploitation of forest products in Mato Grosso may be attributed to an excessive tax burden and complex tax assessment and administration processes. In Guyana, on the other hand, increased private sector loans to forestry industries may be an indication of a strengthening sector.

The newsletter also reports on the high level of international investments by Chinese timber enterprises. In fact, the newsletter notes that the “Go Global” initiative in China has resulted in about US$1.3 billion in investments across 20 countries.

Finally the newsletter notes the increased global market importance of the European wood furniture industry, and the preference for real wood, particularly oak furniture in the European market.

In addition to the headline stories, the report contains tropical timber market reports from Brazil, China, Ghana, Guyana, India, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, Myanmar and Peru. The report further recounts regional tropical timber market statistics from Central and West Africa, Europe and North America.

The TTM, which is published through the ITTO Market Information Service (MIS), requires free registration to access the reports. [Publication: Tropical Timber Market Report – Issue 18 Number 4]