Abstract
Market trends information like price/value fluctuations aid traders and investors to create profits. This study assessed unit values of garden furniture and lumber among wood species, as well as the destination and product type effect on these values. Reports on wood products export were reviewed to obtain data for analyses. Findings were that values/m3 of all wood species were higher when used for garden furniture than when used for lumber production for exports. Among the identified wood species for both garden furniture and lumber production for export, Pericopsis elata (afromosia) had the highest value for both furniture (€3,308.844) and lumber (€869.00) whereas Terminalia ivorensis (emire) had the least furniture value (€1,336.936) while Pycnanthus angolensis (otie) had the least lumber value (€263.10). Sweden and Italy respectively offered the highest (€17,891.80) and lowest (€1134.30) mean garden furniture value, while Sweden and France respectively offered the highest (€557.31) and lowest (€314.97) lumber value. Direction of trade and product type had significant effect (p<0.01) on values of the products and they explained 92.3% of the variations. Generally, both products registered a decreasing trend in volumes exported over the period but lumber value/m3 appreciated whereas furniture value/m3 fell. Conclusions were that the most valued wood species for both lumber and furniture in the export market is afromosia and the best destination for both furniture and kiln-dried lumber export is Sweden. Based on monetary values, it was recommended that garden furniture production for exports should be encouraged than lumber, and furniture export to Sweden could yield higher values/m3.
Highlights
The forest sector, especially wood products export, is a major contributor to the Ghanaian economy
The wood products usually produced in Ghana for the export market include lumber, furniture parts, plywood, glulam etc
The average FOB values/m3 of each specific wood species used for both garden furniture and kiln-dried lumber production from 2001 to 2008 were extracted from TIDD’s export reports on wood products [4,5,6,7, 19,20,21,22]
Summary
The forest sector, especially wood products export, is a major contributor to the Ghanaian economy. Reports indicate that the sector, which is dominated by timber industries accounts for about 11% of the total export earnings of the country [1]. The wood products usually produced in Ghana for the export market include lumber, furniture parts, plywood, glulam etc. In the year 2000, exports of these contributed about 6% to the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) with the formal sector alone employing labour force of about 100,000 people [1]. The forest sector provides direct livelihood to about 2million people in total [2]. Between 1990 and 2005 (a period of 15 years)
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