Ghana wood export volume up, but value down
23 June 2022Newly-released Ghana wood product export figures from the Timber Industry Development Division (TIDD) of the Forestry Commission for January to February 2022 show a 5% increase in export volumes but a decline of over 15% in export earnings compared to the previous year, according to the International Tropical Timber Organisation’s latest market report.
The country earned €19.26m from the exports of 44,237m3 in the first two months of 2022.
The low value for exports is reflected in the steep decline in the average unit price which dropped from €583/m3in the Jan-Feb2021 period to only €435/m3 in the January-February 2022 period.
Air and kiln-dried sawnwood accounted for 49% and 15% respectively of the total export volume for the period. The volumes of these products exported in 2022 were higher than in the same period in 2021. However, the export earnings dropped considerably (-22% and -9%).
Plywood exports to regional market in the first two months of this year were 53% higher year on year and totalled 4,351m3 valued at €1.74m. The volume of plywood exports represented around 10% of total wood exports for the period.
The major markets for the country’s wood products for the period reported were Asia (60%), Europe (17%), Africa (13%) and North America and accounting for much of the balance. The main species exported were teak, ceiba, wawa, denya and essa.
