Mixed situation for timber trade

The export of previously cut trees remains in place.
Catherine Sasman
The Ministry of Agriculture, Water and Forestry said there is no deadline for the transportation and exportation of timber already harvested before November 2018, and that timber traders can continue while stock lasts.

It was earlier reported that the ban on transportation and exportation was lifted from 13 January to 28 February, which apparently saw a rush to get the timber out of north-eastern Namibia for the Walvis Bay harbour.

Not so, said the forestry director in the ministry, Joseph Hailwa, stressing that there is no imposition on the transport and export for trees cut before the harvesting moratorium was instituted.

“At this point, we have no reason to put a deadline because the rationale that brought that decision is still there,” said Hailwa.

However, the moratorium on harvesting remains in place “until further notice”.

“That one for the moment is a no-go area and I do not want to predict anything. I first want to sort out the current burning issue, the current fire, which is to get rid of the timber that is rotting in the forest. After that, we will entertain the way forward,” Hailwa said.

Hailwa explained that the January to February period is merely the time during which about 20 forestry officials have been assigned to the two Kavango and Zambezi regions.

These officials are deployed to go from farm to farm to monitor the situation and physically count the timber on the ground. Some are stationed at checkpoints like the Mururani, Rooidag Gates and Buffalo in the Tsintsabis area, at road blocks.

Since 13 January to around 18 February, a total of 175 transport licences and 220 export permits for 12 389 blocks weighing 4 000 tons were issued.

The ministry acknowledged cases of illegal harvesting since the moratorium on harvesting was imposed. Since then, it is on record that 500 rosewood trees have been illegally harvested in the affected regions.

Three cases of illegal logging have been reported in the two Kavango regions, but no arrests have so far been made.

Resuscitating transport/export permits

Transport and export permits were banned since 31 March last year, but Cabinet announced the lifting of the ban from 9 December.

Forestry officials have stopped issuing transport permits around 20 December and only exit – or export – permits were issued during the Christmas period. The issuance of transport permits resumed on 13 January and the wheels rolled right back into action to get the timber out.

One of the conditions for the lifting of the transport ban is that local manufacturers be given priority to buy the already harvested timber; small-scale commercial farmers would be allowed to sell surplus timber for export purposes.

With limited local capacity to buy the harvested timber, foreign buyers – primarily Chinese, Vietnamese and South African – have stepped in and are taking up the bulk of the timber.

The Chinese have assumed dominance in the timber trade.

“Yes, it is true; it is not a secret,” said Hailwa, adding: “It is not an offence to have more money and power than others. All that is happening today is simply because there are people with more resources than our traditional timber players.”

Namibian players often cannot muster the necessary equipment to extract the timber from far-off, difficult to come by small-scale commercial farms.

“It is not everyone who can do it. Unfortunately, those who can do that today are the Asians and other foreign players. But that cannot be controlled by us because if you say that, it means you are saying why don't we facilitate local people to do that,” Hailwa said.

He said before international players entered the timber trade here, local interest – and access – to timber was insignificant. Previously there were only small operators; now it is done on a commercial level.



Situation on the ground

Despite the resumed exports, activities around timber have considerably scaled down since the harvesting moratorium and near nine-month ban on transport.

Piles of timber along roadsides have reduced considerably, with only a few operators visible on the ground.

But claims of fresh – and illegal – logging remain.

Hailwa said the ministry, alongside the Namibian Police, is monitoring timber crime to the best of their abilities, and where a crime is found, the timber is confiscated and sold on public auction.



Permits

There now seems to be a tussle over export permits and local sources – all preferring anonymity – claim discrepancies in the manner in which these are being issued.

While Hailwa insisted that not many permits are being issued in the Zambezi Region because there are not many small-scale commercial farms, one source claimed that some permits issued from the Katima Mulilo office are made out to look as if they were issued from the Kavango regions.

“I want to challenge anyone who says there is still timber coming out of Katima,” Hailwa said.

More damning is the claim by other sources that forestry officials are allegedly preferring to issue transport/export permits to Chinese and Vietnamese players, to the detriment of Namibians, in exchange for bribes of between N$5 000 to N$10 000.

One of the alleged culprits reportedly appeared before a disciplinary hearing at Rundu last week.

Hailwa, however, said he has never received a report that Namibians cannot get permits because they refuse to pay bribes.



Big player

On a recent visit to the Rundu forestry office, Chinese national Xuecheng Hou was found sitting outside on the veranda with a forestry official while consulting a Namibian-sounding person on speaker phone while the official listened in.

Hou (also known as Hou Zue Cheng or Josy Hou) is the owner of New Force Logistics, and is arguably one of the biggest buyers – and an alleged logger – still running the most active operation on the ground in the Ncaute area, though he claimed to have much reduced the operations.

He also denied allegations by local players that he is trying to intimidate them to impede their entrance into the timber trade.

He was quick to add that Namibian players would never be able to sell directly to the Chinese market, presumably because of the peculiarities of Chinese business practice.

Hou further claimed that he buys timber for own use at his wood factory in China.

Despite measured restrictions now in place, Hou sees a huge future for himself in the local timber trade, calling it an “opportunity paradise”, arguing there are still lots of timber to be had from “300 to 400” small-scale commercial farms.

He, however, complained bitterly about the impediments placed on the “customers” – the buyers – by the recently introduced 15% levy on exports.

The ministry will, after its operation in the three north-eastern areas, assess the way forward for the timber trade.

CATHERINE SASMAN

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Namibian Sun 2024-03-29

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Katima Mulilo: 19° | 36° Rundu: 19° | 29° Eenhana: 19° | 29° Oshakati: 21° | 30° Ruacana: 20° | 33° Tsumeb: 19° | 29° Otjiwarongo: 16° | 29° Omaruru: 19° | 32° Windhoek: 17° | 29° Gobabis: 17° | 30° Henties Bay: 16° | 20° Wind speed: 22km/h, Wind direction: S, Low tide: 11:22, High tide: 05:24, Low Tide: 23:26, High tide: 17:46 Swakopmund: 16° | 17° Wind speed: 24km/h, Wind direction: SW, Low tide: 11:20, High tide: 05:22, Low Tide: 23:24, High tide: 17:44 Walvis Bay: 16° | 22° Wind speed: 27km/h, Wind direction: SW, Low tide: 11:20, High tide: 05:21, Low Tide: 23:24, High tide: 17:43 Rehoboth: 19° | 30° Mariental: 23° | 34° Keetmanshoop: 24° | 35° Aranos: 22° | 33° Lüderitz: 15° | 28° Ariamsvlei: 24° | 35° Oranjemund: 14° | 25° Luanda: 27° | 28° Gaborone: 20° | 32° Lubumbashi: 17° | 26° Mbabane: 16° | 21° Maseru: 11° | 29° Antananarivo: 16° | 27° Lilongwe: 17° | 27° Maputo: 20° | 28° Windhoek: 17° | 29° Cape Town: 17° | 28° Durban: 20° | 24° Johannesburg: 16° | 24° Dar es Salaam: 26° | 32° Lusaka: 20° | 30° Harare: 16° | 29° Currency: GBP to NAD 23.8 | EUR to NAD 20.36 | CNY to NAD 2.61 | USD to NAD 18.87 | DZD to NAD 0.14 | AOA to NAD 0.02 | BWP to NAD 1.33 | EGP to NAD 0.39 | KES to NAD 0.14 | NGN to NAD 0.01 | ZMW to NAD 0.74 | ZWL to NAD 0.04 | BRL to NAD 3.77 | RUB to NAD 0.2 | INR to NAD 0.23 | USD to DZD 134.39 | USD to AOA 832.63 | USD to BWP 13.71 | USD to EGP 47.35 | USD to KES 130.98 | USD to NGN 1415.13 | USD to ZAR 18.87 | USD to ZMW 25.01 | USD to ZWL 321 | Stock Exchange: JSE All Share Index 74536 Up +0.85% | Namibian Stock Exchange (NSX) Overall Index 1528.69 Up +0.84% | Casablanca Stock Exchange (CSE) MASI 12986.94 Up +0.04% | Egyptian Exchange (EGX) 30 Index 27559.35 Down -2.36% | Botswana Stock Exchange (BSE) DCI Same 0 | NSX: MTC 7.75 SAME | Anirep 8.99 SAME | Capricorn Investment group 17.34 SAME | FirstRand Namibia Ltd 49 DOWN 0.50% | Letshego Holdings (Namibia) Ltd 4.1 UP 2.50% | Namibia Asset Management Ltd 0.7 SAME | Namibia Breweries Ltd 31.49 UP 0.03% | Nictus Holdings - 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Nam 2.22 SAME | Oryx Properties Ltd 12.1 UP 1.70% | Paratus Namibia Holdings 11.99 SAME | SBN Holdings 8.45 SAME | Trustco Group Holdings Ltd 0.48 SAME | B2Gold Corporation 47.34 DOWN 1.50% | Local Index closed 677.62 UP 0.12% | Overall Index closed 1534.6 DOWN 0.05% | Osino Resources Corp 19.47 DOWN 2.41% | Commodities: Gold US$ 2 233.12/OZ UP +1.93% | Copper US$ 3.99/lb UP +0.12% | Zinc US$ 2 455.50/T UP 0% | Brent Crude Oil US$ 87.65/BBP UP +1.46% | Platinum US$ 908.62/OZ UP +1.53%