Ghana timber export revenue falls 8.8 pct in April

TAKORADI, Ghana, June 25 (Reuters) - Ghana's timber and wood export revenues fell by 8.8 percent to $14.5 million in April 1999 and volume dropped by 6.2 percent compared with April 1998, according to the latest data from the Forest Products Inspection Bureau (FPIB).

Timber export volumes in April reached 35,882.629 cubic metres, compared with 38,270.680 in April 1998.

But cumulative timber exports for the first four months of the year showed a rise in revenue and volume.

FPIB said 136,715.309 cubic metres of forest products were exported in January-April for a total value of $55.7 million against 128,963.838 cubic metres and $53 million respectively during the same period in 1998.

Kiln- and air-dried lumber represented 58 percent of the total volume of forest products exported in April, with sliced and rotary veneer at 24 percent.

In line with the Ghanaian government's policy of promoting exports of value-added products, plywood exports in April 1999 rose by 513 percent against the same month in 1998.

Main importing countries in April were Germany, Italy, France, the United STates, Britain and Belgium.