THE Malaysian timber sector, similar to other commodity-related sectors, is likely to experience narrower profit margins this year, in line with the ringgit de-pegging and higher prices of logs and crude oil.
Recent downgrade in earnings forecasts by commodity analysts came as “no surprise” by timber players contacted by StarBiz who said that the industry was affected, to a certain extent, by the tightening spread between log and plywood prices, as many timber companies were dependant on US dollar-based export sales.