NGO says Cambodian rosewood is going to the mainland and at least one Hong Kong company
PUBLISHED : Monday, 09 February, 2015,
Hong Kong Customs foiled a case of suspected wood logs smuggling last December.
China's soaring demand for luxury rosewood is fuelling illicit imports of hundreds of millions of dollars of the protected timber from Cambodia and Myanmar, with at least one Hong Kong firm allegedly involved in the trade, according to new data.
Between 2005 and September last year, more than US$250 million worth ofHongmu - as the wood is called in Putonghua - was exported from Cambodia to China, according to British NGO Global Witness.
Hongmu is used to make luxury furniture in China, and is sought after because it was used in the palaces of emperors as far back as eight centuries ago, according to the China National Forest Industry Federation.
Demand for the Siamese rosewood is now so high the price has been driven up from 15,000 yuan per tonne in 2001 to 500,000 yuan (HK$620,000) per tonne in 2013, according to the federation.
Cambodia is one of the top exporters of the luxury wood, with 85 per cent of the nation's timber exports destined for China. There was a 150 per cent increase in Hongmu logs exported to China from Cambodia between 2013 and 2014, Global Witness said.
The Cambodian government banned the wood from being harvested and exported in 2013. It is also protected under international law.
Global Witness claims Cambodian conglomerate the Try Pheap Group, which harvests Siamese rosewood, is exporting as much as 900 cubic metres of the timber from Sihanoukville port in Cambodia every day.
The firm is apparently run by Cambodian tycoon Oknha Try Pheap, previously a personal adviser to Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen and a god-brother to Hun Sen's wife Bun Rany.
The Try Pheap Group has been granted exclusive rights to purchase any timber seized by Cambodian enforcement agencies, to sell on and export at a profit, Global Witness alleges.
"Numerous insider sources described the tycoon's close relationships with the Ministry of Environment and Forestry Administration officials," the NGO claimed in its latest report.
"The company is routinely and brazenly flouting laws aimed at protecting Cambodians and the ecosystems they rely on," said Megan MacInnes, a campaign leader at Global Witness.
In Sihanoukville, Global Witness obtained copies of shipment documents for timber valued at US$5.6 million exported by the Try Pheap Group to the Kin Chung Transportation Company in Hong Kong.
The company's directors told Global Witness they had no knowledge of the Try Pheap Group, and no idea why their company had been associated with such imports.
Attempts to reach Kin Chung, Oknha Try Pheap and the Try Pheap Group for comment were unsuccessful.
This article appeared in the South China Morning Post print edition as Chinese demand drives trade in protected wood
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