Chainsaw milling: supplier to local markets - European Tropical ...

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ETFRN NEws 52: DEcEmbER 2010
states facilitates foreign investments in the timber, mineral and fossil fuels sectors, whose
resources are mainly concentrated in the peruvian amazon. The completion of the interoceanic
highway in 2010, passing trough the madre de Dios region and connecting brazil
with the pacific Coast, provides access to the Chinese timber market.
with some exceptions, the new Forest and Wildlife Law 4 prohibits chainsaw milling 5 under
articles 347 and 410. Chainsaws and similar equipment 6 are permitted only in the following
situations:
• the harvesting area is difficult to reach;
• relevant constraints are reported in the forest management plan; and
• a forest owned by native communities or a permanent timber concession allocated to
qualified loggers.
all Csm equipment must be registered with the organization for supervision of Forest
and Fauna resources (osinFor).
with the 2008–09 financial crisis, major historical importers of high quality sawnwood,
such as the u.s., began to lose market share while importers of lower quality sawnwood,
such as China and mexico, increased their share. in January 2009 the export value of
sawnwood was 63% lower than in the same period in 2008. 7 Exports of high-value sawn
timber (e.g., mahogany, or Swietenia macrophylla G. kin and tropical cedar, or Cedrela
odorata l.) decreased considerably and were only partially compensated for by the Chinese
and mexican markets (Figure 1).
Figure 1. Major
importers of peruvian
sawnwood (us$000),
2002–08
source: ComTraDE
140,000
120,000
100,000
80,000
60,000
World
40,000
20,000
Mexico
U.S.
0
2002 2004
China
2006 2008
Dominican Republic
Hong Kong
in 2008 the domestic timber market consumed about 1,000,000 m 3 , eight times the
quantity of exported sawnwood. 8 This is the highest value ever documented (Caillaux and
Chirinos 2003). The severe restrictions on chainsaw milling imposed by the new forest law
and the stagnant export market has caused cheap sawmilled wood to be dumped on the
local market. There is a substitution effect, however; if less low-quality sawmilled wood is
available in the local market, chainsawn timber takes its place.