Saturday, November 25, 2006 Dutch expert assesses Davao's wood industry By Joy Romares-Sevilla
A DUTCH senior expert is in Davao City to assess the wood industry in Davao Region, one of the priority industry clusters of the regional office of the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI).
Duke Ohm, Dutch senior expert of the Programma Uitzending Managers (PUM), cited two main factors that can contribute to the improvement of competitiveness of the wood industry in the region.
These are: new players in the industry and availability of funds for new machineries.
"There are poor machineries which make the production low with a high percentage of waste, there are also poor logs from the plantation," Ohm said Friday.
He added that most sawmills he visited in the region have outdated machinery, and in general is 30 years old.
He said there's an urgent need to look for funding because there is no money available to buy new machinery.
Ohm even recommended the purchase of second-hand machinery in the Netherlands, Scandinavia, Germany, Belgium or in France.
Ohm added that development projects are also needed to focus on reforestation.
"Those engaged in banana plantations should be approached and asked to invest in tree planting, maybe it is an idea to plant rubber trees," Ohm told Sun.Star Davao, adding that rubber wood has high market in Europe.
Louis Rabat, chair of the Wood Industry Cluster of the Regional Development Council, said the buying price of rubber wood in other countries is about US$300 per cubic meter, higher that the buying price for gemelina, which is US$150 per cubic meter.
Rabat claimed that gemelina has the largest plantation existing in the region.
Ohm also looked into the biggest problem the industry is facing, which is waste.
He said he observed sawdust and rejected pieces of timber available in every mill he visited.
He added that about 80 percent or over goes to waste, yield is 20 percent of the logs only.
Ohm disclosed that this should be improved to at least 35 percent.
"For the market, concentrate on your present markets in the Far East and add Thailand, consider Europe only when the machinery is updated, the quality of the machined timber is upgraded, and the timber supply is under control," he said.
The industry is now exporting wood products in Japan, China, Korea, and Taiwan.
Rabat said Europe is a very difficult market to enter considering that it has a high-end market.
Ohm was invited by Rabat and the rest of the party to assess the wood industry council two weeks ago.
PUM is an independent organization based in Netherlands, which is composed of Dutch senior experts who offer their skills and experience voluntarily to businesses and organizations in places where these are most needed.
It aims to improve the position of small and medium enterprises (SMEs) and private sectors in developing countries.
