Type of softwood

1) Agathis borneensis
Agathis borneensis is a plant found in the forests of Malaysia and the other ASEAN
countries. Only one species of softwood, tolong or bindang available at a higher
elevation level and also on the terraces of sand in the lowland peat swamp. It is highly
regarded as a decorative wood and the carving is so exciting, especially when it is used
as a wood panel and internal finishing.

Commercial Value:
1. To make Gasing, one of the most popular Malaysia’s traditional game.
2. Malaysia's largest Gasing, named Gasing Pedada that made from resin ( Agathis
borneensis).
3. Used as incense in religious ceremonies.
4. Used as traditional treatments, light extension, lighter, and boat leaks masonry division.
5. Used as a smoke barrier mosquito
6. Exports, particularly for the manufacture of high-grade wax and other adhesives used in
the processing of animal skins.
7. Also used as decorative panels, veneer, plywood and furniture.

While the northern part of Asia is a major producer of softwood in the world. The timber is to
make building or house, the railway, furniture appliances, plywood, paper and many others.

For example:

1. Panama pine wood

2. Spruce wood
3. Yellow pine wood
4. European red wood
5. Douglas fir wood
6. Western red cedar
Commercial value:

1. Softwood such as pine are best suited to serve as a high quality plywood.
2. Softwood such as spruce wood from the cypress family is very suitable for making
musical instruments such as the main ingredients of guitar, piano and viola. The price of
a guitar depends on the type of wood used. Such as the guitar that made of spruce
wood can be sold at a very high price.

China’s growing role in world timber trade

With its thriving economy, huge domestic market and cheap labour, China has
emerged in recent years as a giant in wood products trade – a change that could
have important ripple effects around the globe.

Import of wood as raw material

Softwoods are imported in greater quantities than hardwoods. The Russian Federation is the
main source of imported logs, supplying about 60 percent of the total – about 95 percent
softwood, mainly larch (mostly Larix sibirica) and Mongolian Scotch pine (mostly Pinus
sylvestris var. mongolica). New Zealand follows, supplying mainly radiata pine ( Pinus radiata).
Imported hardwood mainly comes from Southeast Asia and West Africa.
World Timber Price Quarterly - December 2007

US$ per Cubic

Meter

Prices in Finland have jumped 44-47% for softwood sawlogs in the past year, due to decreased
shipments from Russia and increasing competition for domestic logs. Currency changes have
aggravated the trends, so that, in US dollar terms, prices for softwood sawlogs in Finland were
55-59% higher than in the third quarter of 2006.

In Asia, prices for sawlogs were mixed. In Japan, prices for domestic sugi and hinoki edged
lower, even as demand for these species is generally increasing as a percentage of softwood
log consumption in that country. Demand for all sawlogs in Japan weakened in the third
quarter, following introduction of the new Buildings Standards Law in July. Housing starts
plunged by 37% in Japan in the third quarter, compared with the same period in 2006.

This may have also influenced the relatively weak performance of Malaysian export logs in the
third quarter. Radiata pine log prices dropped in the third quarter in both Korea and China, in
part as a reaction to heavy buying in the first half of the year. Russia increased its log export
duty on July 1 to 20% of log value or a minimum of Euro 10 per cubic meter for softwood,
pushing up prices for softwood logs in China by 5%. Prices for Russian larch also moved higher
in Japan, but it is important to remember that prices for Russian logs had been moving higher
for several years prior to this latest increase in the log export tax. Higher prices for Russian logs
are a function of higher production costs, and Japanese imports of Russian logs have already
begun dropping rapidly (down 26% in the third quarter of 2007 compared to the same period in
2006).1

1For an in-depth analysis of the impact of Russia’s log export tax on softwood log markets in north Asia, see RISI’s
November 2007 study Pacific Rim Softwood Log Market Outlook, www.risiinfo.com/pacificrim.