Indonesian wood products still have a great opportunity to increase their market share in the European Union. This was followed by the existence of a wood legality certificate which has now been transformed into a wood sustainability certificate. The Indonesian Ambassador to Belgium and Luxembourg and the European Union, Andri Hadi, in a release delivered by the Indonesian Forestry Community Communication Forum (FKMPI) in Jakarta on Sunday, said that until now the EU market, which totals US$ 120 billion, is still controlled by China. Meanwhile, Vietnam, which does not yet have a FLEGT License, is still in a better rank than Indonesia, which is in 10th place. The Ambassador stated that although it has not dominated the EU market, the export performance of Indonesia's wood products has continued to show improvement since the FLEGT VPA was established with the EU. Specifically for wood products, the EU already has a FLEGT scheme and has also established a voluntary partnership with Indonesia (VPA). Indonesia is even the only country whose wood product certificate (SLK) has been equivalent to a FLEGT License. In 2016 when the FLEGT VPA was first established, Indonesia's wood product exports were recorded at £813.5 million.

Its value then consistently rose and reached £1.07 billion in 2021. "Products such as wood parquet, furniture, paper, plywood show an increase of more than 20 percent in 2021 compared to 2020," he said. According to Andri, there are still many wood products whose exports have the potential to be optimized. Of the 44 HS codes of wood products that are included in the FLEGT VPA, there are still 19 HS codes whose exports can still be increased. He mentioned that one of them is wood products for fuel needs in the form of wood chips, pellets, or other forms. This is because many EU countries still use biomass fuel to replace coal.
Meanwhile, the Indonesian Ambassador to Finland and Estonia Ratu Silvy Gayatri revealed that there is still a lot of potential for Indonesian wood products that can be worked on in the Finnish market. "We can make various innovative efforts to explore the potential of the product and then promote it in various events in Finland," she said. FKMPI chairman Indroyono Soesilo said that the performance of the forestry sector was positive in early 2022. Total exports of wood products in January 2022 amounted to US$ 1.23 billion, up 28.2 percent compared to January 2021. For the European Union and the UK, exports in January 2022 also recorded an increase of 29.69 percent with a value of US$ 104.1 million compared to the record in 2021 of US$ 80.2 million. "FKMPI is ready to work together to continue to increase exports of wood products to the EU during the current challenging situation," said Indroyono who is also the General Chair of the Indonesian Forest Entrepreneurs Association (APHI).

Source: https://www.minews.id/news/produk-kayu-indonesia-terus-digenjot-untuk-ekspor-ke-eropa