Ban on ironwood exports hurts producers

A ban on the export of ironwood products from sources other than Kalimantan is costing Bali's crafts industry billions of rupiah.

Head of the Bali Industry and Trade Agency, I Gede Darmaja, said ironwood craft producers in Bali had been storing excess stock in warehouses since the Forestry Ministry declared the ban last year.

"Most of these ironwood products should have been exported already but have remained in Bali since last year," Darmaja told The Jakarta Post in Denpasar on Tuesday.

"There are also products that use ironwood as components that also cannot be exported, despite orders being placed for April."

One product hardest hit by the ban is demountable structures such as gazebos, which Bali almost exclusively exports to Japan, the United States and several European countries.

Darmaja said Bali Governor Made Mangku Pastika had proposed a leeway for Bali's exports to the Ministry.

"Allow Bali's exports to continue, at least until all the current stock has run out," he said.

Meanwhile, producers are trying to devise new ways to move their products from their warehouses and onto the market.

Made Krebek, a demountable-structure producer from Denpasar, has been replacing the ironwood roof tiles he previously used for gazebos with thatch, but his efforts have been in vain.

"At least 30 percent of my orders were cancelled because we switched to thatch," he said.

As a result of the ban, Krebek was left with around 1,000 packs of ironwood, valued at over Rp 100 million (US$9,000)

He said the forestry ministry should have informed manufacturers of their intention to ban export of ironwood from areas outside of Kalimantan.

"I haven't exported anything since the beginning of this year. I've finished all the products as per my contract, which is worth nearly Rp 1 billion," said Krebek, who had been making ironwood products since 2000 with an average export volume of 30 gazebos per month.

Ni Komang Erviani , The Jakarta Post , Denpasar | Thu, 02/26/2009 1:59 PM | Bali