The slowness of local authorities to grant permits to wood exporters prevents them from taking advantage of the available resources in the country.
2020 was a complicated year for the sector, as Nicaraguan exports were considerably reduced due to the pandemic. In addition to this phenomenon, exporters face complications when it comes to obtaining the corresponding permits, a situation that prevents them from doing business in emergency scenarios.
In the first six months of 2019, $139 million in wood and wood products were exported from Central America, and 54% of them were sold by companies in Costa Rica and Panama.
Figures from the Trade Intelligence Unit at CentralAmericaData: [GRAFICA caption="Click to interact with graphics"]
The government approved the implementation of a security seal to be used for transport in closed containers of wood for export from commercial plantations.
Resolution No. DM-0193-2019, published in the Gaceta Oficial at the beginning of June, establishes that the Asociación Nacional de Reforestadores y Afines de Panamá (Anarap) is authorized to supply security seals at the national level.
In the first nine months of 2018, $206 million in wood and wood products were exported from Central America, and 52% were sold by companies in Costa Rica and Panama.
Figures from the Trade Intelligence Unit at CentralAmericaData: [GRAFICA caption="Click to interact with graphics]
In the first six months of 2018, exports of timber and wood products from the region totaled $156 million, 3% more than the same period in 2017, partly because of sales to India.
Figures from the Trade Intelligence Unit at CentralAmericaData: [GRAFICA caption="Click to interact with graphic"]
Businessmen in Nicaragua reported that from January to September sales of furniture and wood showed a decrease of 60% compared to the same period in 2017.
According to the second Monitoring of Economic Activities in Nicaragua, of the Superior Council of Private Enterprise (Cosep) and the Nicaraguan Foundation for Economic and Social Development (Funides), under the political and social crisis that has affected the country for more than six months, sales of the furniture sector have reported negative results.
On June 6 and 7, wood producers and exporters will be meeting in Antigua, Guatemala, to explore business opportunities with international buyers.
The Living Interior Furniture Expo (L.I.F.E.) is being organized by the Guatemalan Exporters' Guild, and will be held in Santo Domingo Del Cerro, in Antigua Guatemala.
In 2016, Central American countries exported $223 million worth of wood and its manufactures, and the value exported to India grew by 20% compared to 2015.
Figures from the information system on the Central American Market for Wood and its Manufactures, compiled by the Business Intelligence Unit at CentralAmericaData: [GRAFICA caption = "Click to interact with the chart"]
Furniture and household articles, pellets and laminated wood are among the products with the highest demand in the global wood market.
From the executive summary of a study by Procomer entitled "World lumber market and trends for value-added products":
Goods that incorporate a higher level of manufacturing are those that show the highest levels of growth in world imports, or other products that are less processed but which participate in sectors which are of value per se (sustainable construction).
German imports of home and office furnishings are growing by 10% a year.
From a statement issued by the Costa Rican Foreign Trade Promotion Office (Procomer):
According to figures from the Association of German Furniture Industry (VDM, by its acronym in German), in March this year, the country increased its furniture purchases from abroad by 10.1% compared to the same period in 2014.
The growth in foreign sales of goods and furniture made from wood is 8% in comparison to 2013.
From a statement issued by Agexport:
The Commission of Furniture Manufacturers and Forest Products -AGEXPORT-, has reported an 8% increase in July 2014, after the industry generated $8.6 million in foreign sales compared to July 2013 ($ 6.7 million).
Furniture, lumber, doors, floors, flooring boards, coffins, logs etc.
A U.S. company plans to rescue wood species such as Cocobolo and Rosewood that have been left under the water of the lake created by the Bayano hydroelectric dam.
The U.S. company Hollund Industrial Marine, Inc., has announced that it will soon have the respective environmental licenses to enable it to extract the timber submerged under Lake Bayano.
Negotiations are underway for a voluntary agreement to channel excess supply of wood in the Honduran market by exporting it to the EU with legal certification.
"... With the European Union we are negotiating a voluntary agreement to export timber and open the market which today is very insignificant, less than 2%, but we hope that in the future it will be the largest source of Honduran timber exports," said José Trinidad Suazo, executive director of Forest Conservation Institute (ICF).
About ten companies in the wood and furniture sector have already obtained the requirements demanded by the European Union to export their products.
This was announced by the president of the MesoAmerican and Caribbean Network of Trade and Forestry (Jagwood), Danilo Cedeno. The certificates possessed by these companies allow access to preferential markets such as the U.S. and Europe.
The U.S. market has once again become significant for the Guatemalan furniture and wood industry.
Until last June sales of furniture and forest products to the U.S. market represented 28% of total exports of the sector, by the end of 2013 sales are expected to exceed $100 million.
The information was released at the opening of the 26th edition of Expomueble, an event which "brings together all of the producers in the furniture and forest products sectors in Guatemala in an area of over 8 thousand square meters of exhibitions", reported Estrategiaynegocios.net.