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Forestry and wood products market in the Philippines

The Philippines is faced with falling volumes and quality of local wood supply due to one of the highest rates of deforestation in the world.

Hardwood logs have dominated log imports, in 2005 accounting for more than 50 percent of total log supply. Sawmillers mostly use tropical hardwood logs coming from the Solomon Islands, Malaysia, and Papua New Guinea as raw material for lumber manufacture.

Of the total lumber imported in 2005, more than half came from Malaysia. Canada and the United States were the second and third largest suppliers. Softwood lumber imports mostly came from New Zealand.

The wood processing and furniture manufacturing sectors are aware of New Zealand pine. The product is used by a number of companies in these sectors and New Zealand pine lumber is also carving a niche in the construction industry.

Leading forestry and wood product users are:

the construction and housing industries
by far the largest domestic user of plywood is the construction industry
the furniture manufacturing and woodworking industry is the second largest user of sawn timber.

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Getting your product into market

Forestry and wood products are distributed locally by distributors, traders and agents.

Sawmillers and plywood manufacturers also sell their processed wood to retailers or direct to contractors. There are also instances where sawmillers and wood processors do their own importing.

Tips for differentiating product:

position New Zealand pine as an environmentally friendly renewable resource. New Zealand forestry and wood products have a Forest Stewardship Certification
emphasise New Zealand pine suppliers can provide consistent and reliable wood supply
point out that pine lumber has excellent machining and finishing properties and is suitable for furniture manufacture.

Regulations

There are a few entry requirements for forestry and wood products importers. Wood products importers are required to register with the Department of Environment and Natural Resources and the Philippine Wood Products Association.

There are no import bans or quotas on logs, sawn timber, veneer or wooden poles.

Opportunities

Prospects for increased imports of forest products by the Philippines remain positive in light of the domestic supply shortage.
Suppliers should sponsor and support activities of Philippine wood-based trade associations including product demonstrations and workshops on New Zealand pine along with sponsoring inward buyers’ missions.