Wood shortage looms as 75 local timber manufacturing companies collapse

Ghana faces the risk of spending millions of cedis on timber imports, as 75 out of 100 local timber manufacturing companies have collapsed due to continuous forest destruction by bushfires.

Players within the timber industry warn that the remaining 25 companies in the Western North, parts of Eastern and Central Regions, are struggling to secure raw materials for production, fearing imminent closure.

Chief Executive Officer of the Ghana Timber Millers Organisation, Dr. Kwame Asamoah Adam, highlighted these concerns in an interview with Citi Business News.

“Now, in terms of the numbers, the medium to large size companies, most of them have collapsed. So, coming from a figure of about 100 companies now, you have just about 25 that are surviving, operating, exporting, and also providing employment. ”

He added “Now, in terms of the materials that are coming in, in terms of round logs, it has reduced in quantity from about 1.2 million m³ about 20 years ago to now just around 500,000 million. The reduction in raw materials is attributed mainly to a decline in the production areas”.