Overview of Timber Sector of Cameroon
Supply chain actors
Overview of Timber Sector of Cameroon: In 2019 ATIBT[1], MINOF declared 93 forest concessions, 38 communal forests, 142 timber sales and approximately and 50 community forests. These forest titles are managed by about 50 large international or national companies (59), about 40 medium-sized national companies (46) and about 30 rural communes (38) that own communal forests. The GFBC[2] (Groupement de la Filière Bois du Cameroun – Cameroon Timber Industry Association) is a sectoral employers’ organisation, whose members represent about 75% of the volume of business carried out in this sector in Cameroon.
Production and processing
Although the majority of the logs are processed within the country, the production of highly processed products is still relatively rare. The forest industry mainly produces primary timber products, with the main export products being logs, sawnwood, plywood and veneer.
Main harvested species
The most harvested species between 2010 and 2016 (FRMi 2018) are:
- Ayous (Triplochiton scleroxylon)
- Sapelli (Entandrophragma cylindricum)
- Tali (Erythrophleum ivorense; Erythrophleum suaveolens)
- Azobé (Lophira alata)
- Okan (Cylicodiscus gabunensis)
- Iroko (Milicia excelsa)
- Padouk (Pterocarpus soyauxi)
- Kossipo (Entandrophragma candollei)
- Fraké (Terminalia superba)
- Dabéma (Piptadeniastrum africanum)
Export
According to MINFOF[3] (2018), Cameroon’s logging industry produced approximately 3.3 million metres of logs in 2017. Most of this volume is used for the export of products from primary processing, which represents a total export value of US$933.7 million in 2018 (ITTO[4] 2019, data 2018)[5]. Cameroonian exports are sold to all regions of the world, but mainly to China, Western Europe and Vietnam (Graph bellow). In Cameroon, the prioritization of local producers of wooden furniture in public procurement. At the end of August 2022[6], the Presidency of the Republic of Cameroon issued a circular providing for an increase in public procurement for wood products manufactured in Cameroon
Logistics infrastructure
The Cameroonian exports are sold to all regions of the world. Besides overland export routes to other African countries, most timber is exported via the main port of Douala. This port is also used as one of the main ports for the export of timber harvested in the Republic of Congo and the Central African Republic.
Cameroon Timber Data Table
| Production(X 1000m3) | Imports(X 1000m3) | Domestic consumption(X 1000m3) | Exports(X 1000m3) | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| logs | 3.560 | 77 | 2.218 | 1.418 |
| Sawnwood | 1.022 | 0 | 376 | 647 |
| Veneer | 56 | 0 | 13 | 42 |
| Plywood | 18 | 12 | 6 |
References
“Cameroon”. ATIBT. Retrieved 2022-11-27. “GFBC – CAMEROON TIMBER INDUSTRY ASSOCIATION”. ATIBT. Retrieved 2022-11-27. “Ministère Des Forêts Et De La Faune| Accueil”. www.minfof.cm. Retrieved 2022-11-27. “ITTO | The International Tropical Timber Organization”. ITTO International Tropical Timber Organization. Retrieved 2022-11-27. “Africa”. ITTO International Tropical Timber Organization. Retrieved 2022-11-27. “In Cameroon, the prioritization of local producers of wooden furniture in public procurement”. ATIBT. 2022-09-23. Retrieved 2022-11-27.