Barama importing plywood to support local demand

Barama Company Limited has imported a quantity of plywood to meet the demand on the local market for at least two months.

The first shipment of about 562 crates of plywood arrived at the Barama jetty last Saturday.

The decision to import the high- demand commodity follows the closure of the company’s plywood factory in October. 

Barama said it is making every effort to supply plywood at a lower price to local distributors, and has applied for exemption of import duty and Value Added Tax to minimise cost. However, several factors have adversely impacted the final price, including high import prices, import duties, freight and handling costs. 

Barama Chief Executive Officer Clement Ooi said, “The company’s effort in importing plywood is in line with our immediate plans to mitigate the shortage in plywood supply. As communicated to the government on November 8, we are concentrating our efforts to implement a medium-term plan to commence plywood manufacturing by end of June 2011, with the aim of restoring our plywood production capacity to normal levels by the end of December 2011.”  

With increased demand resulting in the steep price increases of local plywood, Barama is appealing to all distributors to be fair and responsible in their pricing, and not transfer the high costs to local consumers. In addition, the company is urging the relevant authorities to monitor the quality of imported plywood that is allowed to enter the local market.

“We would like to thank our stakeholders for their understanding and support as we move forward during this crisis. Barama remains committed to restoring our plywood manufacturing in the best interest of our business and our stakeholders,” Ooi said.

Plywood has continued to be in high demand because of its versatility, competitive pricing, and the government’s ongoing low-cost housing ownership drive.

On October 4 last, BCL’s boiler sustained damage allegedly as a result of neglect by employees. 

Barama has since conducted an internal investigation of the incident, the findings of which are under review.

Some 280 employees were sent home as a result of the damage, and government has had cause to step in to assist the workers with a monthly stipend. 

In 2007, when the Guyana Forestry Commission had fined Barama Company Limited in excess of $96 million for forestry breaches, the company had fired some plywood workers. 

Closure of the Land of Canaan plywood factory comes at a time when the company is still investing to improve production and fully establish the veneer plant at Buck Hall.

Barama Company Limited, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Samling Global Limited, was established in Guyana in 1991 when the company was granted a lowland, mixed tropical forest concession of approximately 1.6 million hectares. 

The company harvests premium logs for its sawmilling and plywood manufacturing facilities.