The country’s purchases of forestry products from the United States this year may expand by 50 percent to $21.6 million on the back of an uptick in private and public construction projects, according to an international report.
The United States Department of Agriculture-Foreign Agricultural Service in Manila (USDA-FAS Manila) has projected that the country’s wood imports from the US would expand by $7.2 million from last year’s $14.4 million.
“Given the rise in Philippine residential, commercial, and public construction projects, the declining production of lumber and other wood products cannot meet the country’s demands. Wood manufacturers have therefore increasingly turned to imports for alternative sources of forestry products,” the USDA-FAS Manila said in a Global Agricultural Information Network report.
“Post projects a 50-percent increase in US forestry product exports in 2021 versus last year due to high demand in the market.”
The USDA-FAS Manila explained that there has been a growing demand from the Philippines of US quality wood including coniferous or non-coniferous wood sawn or chipped lengthwise, wood in the rough, veneer sheets, and casks/barrels/vats/tubs.
“Moreover, imported boxboards, corrugated inner, and liner boards from the US have potential for packaging products, such as fruits.”
The USDA-FAS Manila estimated that the Philippines’s timber purchases from all countries would go up by 15 percent this year as operations in allied industries pick up pace.
The USDA-FAS Manila noted that the Philippines imports 75 percent of its wood and wood products, with the majority being plywood veneered panels/sheets, laminated wood, and coniferous or non-coniferous wood sawn or chipped lengthwise.
“In 2020, the Philippines continued to import forest products mainly from Asian countries, with other suppliers including Canada, New Zealand, the Netherlands, Sweden, and the United States,” it added.
Citing industry estimates, the USDA-FAS Manila said local supply of wood and wood-based products could not meet the Philippines’s annual demand pegged at 6 million cubic meters. The country’s annual wood consumption is estimated to expand to 8 million cubic meters by 2025 and 10 million cubic meters by 2030.
“The growing local and export demand is due to the increased use of wood for construction [buildings, houses, bridges, and wharves], paper packaging and printing, furniture, cabinetmaking, and carvings,” it said.
“Construction companies and real estate developers use wood products for residential and commercial projects [condominiums, hotels, resorts, houses, restaurants, and coffee shops] for the structure, outer walls, interiors, doors, window frames, and roof decks.”
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