Good afternoon. Mozambique’s timber industry is in trouble, but not for the reasons that the government or the trade association suggest (see below). The number of forestry businesses operating in the country has fallen by almost half since last year. The government talks about a shortage of timber and market problems, while the Mozambican Federation of Timber Operators complains about the policy framework and blames the government for buying Chinese timber. But neither of these things explain the sharp fall in the number of businesses in the last year.
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Fernando Lima
Zitamar News
What has changed is that the government has stepped up enforcement activity against illegal timber exports. Mozambican law prohibits the export of unprocessed timber logs, as well as the export of endangered species of wood in any form. Although the illegal trade in timber has not been suppressed, more cargoes of timber have been stopped, and this has forced some timber firms out of business. In other words, the timber industry has been dependent on illegal exports.
