16 September 2014: The International Tropical Timber Organization (ITTO) launched the 1-15 September issue of the Tropical Timber Market (TTM) Report highlighting the decision by the Government of Indonesia to apply the same verification standards for imported timber as it does for domestic timber. With the legislation coming into effect in 2015, the decision is intended to ensure the legality of timber consumed in the country.

Also in south-east Asia, the TTM Report notes that prices for Malaysian log exports are increasing, in part, as a result of the raw log export ban in Myanmar. Furniture imports to the US from Mexico now exceed imports from Indonesia and Malaysia, while Japan’s import of logs from the US has increased over the first half of 2014, according to the publication.

Other stories focus on the provision of significant log export allowances to encourage investment in log processing plants in the Republic of the Congo and on projections for an increase in plywood exports from Brazil due to an expansion of the US construction industry. Additional market projections forecast an unlikely rebound in EU tropical hardwood imports.

Along with its 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, published through the ITTO Market Information Service (MIS), requires free registration to access the reports. [Publication: Tropical Timber Market Report – Issue 18 Number 17]