IFIA – the Interafrican Forest Industries Association – has warned that Africa is suffering from high fuel prices which could impact on timber prices.
The organisation said that at the end of October fuel prices had reached an all-time high of US$62.44 a barrel. It blamed several events including political tensions in producer countries, the collapse of the Russian petroleum producer Ioukos, difficulties in supply for climatic reasons such as Hurricane Katrina and increasing demand, especially from China.
But, said IFIA, while oil production capacities have not increased by much, demand continues to rise and Africa suffers.
It said that foresters require petrol to work at each stage of production – from fuelling forest equipment through to transporting logs to ports – and that a typical company with a sawmill and kiln dryer uses about 500,000 litres of fuel each month.
However, pump prices have increased by 30% in one year and increases in freight on board prices for timber are inevitable according to IFIA. This, it said, would lead to heavy international competition but it warned that the survival of companies depends on it.
