Sarawak’s timber industry recorded a 10 per cent decline in export value during the first quarter of 2026 amid weakening global demand.
Deputy Premier and Second Minister for Natural Resources and Urban Development Datuk Amar Awang Tengah Ali Hasan said the export value fell to RM564 million compared to RM624 million during the same period last year.
He said Japan remained the state’s largest timber importer with exports valued at RM298 million, followed by India at RM106 million, Middle Eastern countries at RM70 million and the Philippines at RM23 million.
“The exports involved products such as plywood, logs, fibreboard, sawn timber, woodchips, wood pellets and others,” he said this in his ministerial winding up speech today.
Despite the decline, Awang Tengah said the export value of wood pellets as a value-added product recorded a 3.3 per cent increase to RM21.4 million in the first quarter of 2026 compared to RM20.7 million in 2025.
He urged industry players to focus more on producing value-added timber products such as engineered wood, furniture, biochar and biomass to improve competitiveness and strengthen Sarawak’s timber exports in the international market.
At the same time, he revealed that the Sarawak government has approved a 50-hectare site in Demak Laut for the development of a Furniture Industry Park under a RM233 million project scheme in the 13th Malaysia Plan (RMK13).
“The project is currently at the stage of preparing its development plan,” he said.
On the bamboo industry, Awang Tengah said the sector holds significant potential for Sarawak and local communities, citing the Bamboo Global Market Report 2025 which projected the global bamboo products market to reach USD118 billion by 2034.
He said several local and international companies have also expressed interest in investing in downstream bamboo-based industries involving products such as activated carbon, pellets, tissue paper, packaging materials, textiles, biochar, food products and cosmetics.
“To support the planting programme, Sarawak Timber Industry Development Corporation (STIDC) has developed three nurseries in Sabal, Tanjung Manis and Kuala Baram capable of producing 450,000 bamboo seedlings annually,” he said.
Awang Tengah also revealed that STIDC recorded only one case involving an unlicensed factory as of May 2026 compared to five cases during the same period last year.
“Overall, integrated efforts through the strengthening of new ordinances and regulations as well as cooperation with other enforcement agencies have successfully improved the level of compliance within Sarawak’s timber industry,” he said.
