Exports of logs double in 2016
Despite a ban on the export of timber to Vietnam and the creation of a much-publicised anti-logging task force, Cambodia last year still exported nearly $33 million dollars’ worth of unprocessed logs to its eastern neighbour, a volume more than double that of 2015, according to Vietnamese customs data. The figures, collected by US NGO Forest Trends, reveal that in 2016 Vietnam imported 139,306 cubic metres of logs from Cambodia, a sharp rise from 59,292 cubic metres in 2015 and just 460 in 2014. The imports saw a staggering spike in November and December of last year. Of the total volume of logs, which was valued at $32.86 million, 56 percent was received by Vietnam in November and December, with 43 percent in the latter month alone.
