Overview of timber sector of Honduras

Production and processing

As can be observed from the table below (ITTO) the vast majority of Honduran wood production serves the domestic market. In 2017, the exports of round logs were limited to around 9’000 m3, i.e. only 1% of the total production of 770’000 m3. The exports of sawnwood, being the most important primary timber export product with around 175’000 m3, accounted in 2015 for 57% of the Honduran total sawnwood production (306’000 m3). The exports of plywood, being the second most important product, were only about 10,000 m3 in 2017.

The contribution of the forestry sector to the national GDP in 2018 was 0.80%, with USD 63.2 million (ICF Forest Statistical Annuary 2018, Chap.11). The total volume of harvested logs for 2018 was 287,619 m3 (preliminary data, pending updating by ICF). It was down, from 669,300 m3 in 2016, and 438,760 m3 in 2017 (latest official data), reflecting a downward trend since 2002 when it almost reached 1 million m3 (same source, Chap. 3, Table 22).

The reported total production for the primary processing industry (sawnwood, plywood, others) in 2018 was of 322,510 m3 (same source, Table 41). 107 companies reported production during 2018. The data in Table 41 comes from mandatory monthly reports sent to the ICF and is considered reliable.

The ICF however admits challenges in collecting (and verifying) reliable data from the industry on roundwood. The data in Table 22 comes from the computerized wood traceability system (SIRMA) and not all industries have the equipment or skilled staff to use the system. Table 43 (same source, Chap. 3) provides different numbers for the total volume of harvested logs (255,930 m3 in 2018, pending updating by ICF, after 503,700 m3 in 2016 and 557,500 m3 in 2017); and slightly different numbers for the reported total production of the primary processing industry (294,414 m3 in 2018, after 259,242 m3 in 2016, and 293,427 m3 in 2017). For these reasons, calculated recovery yields based on these data cannot be relied upon.

Despite such uncertainties regarding the total volumes (roundwood and primary production), the resulting proportions are assumed to be valid: out of a total supply of round logs of 1,395,670 m3 over the last three years, 1,379,720 m3 (98.9%) corresponded to pine wood and the remaining 15,950 m3 (1,1%) to broadleaf forests’ hardwood (Table 22). For pine wood, out of a primary production of 68,212 m3, 63,739 m3 (93.4%) came from the industry and 4,472 m3 (6.6%) from mobile or chainsaw milling in the field (Table 36). For hardwood timber, a reported primary production of 5,158 m3 was divided between a minority of 770 m3 (14.9%) by the industry while 4,388 m3 (85.1%) came from mobile or chainsaw milling in the field (Table 38). The four regions that reported the highest primary production during 2018 are Francisco Morazán (77.3%), Northwest (8%), Comayagua (6.3%) and Yoro (3.7%), representing 95.3% of the total primary production of the country in 2018 (Table 35). The production of hardwood species almost entirely comes from the Atlantic coastal región and north west.

The distribution per types of primary products in 2018 (m3) shows: Sawn timber 248,747, Chopsticks 22,847, Plywood 22,369, Pallets 12,752, Nasas (fish traps) 6,970, Tampas (tutor for agricultural crops) 992, and Others 7,831, for a Total of 332,510 (ICF Annuary 2018, Table 40).

Export

According to the ICF Forest Statistical Annuary 2018 (Chap. 10), the net balance in monetary value between exports (USD 66.6 million) and imports (USD 46.9 million) is positive (USD 19.8 million), which means that Honduras is a net exporter of wood products, although the majority of exports correspond to semi-finished products. The five biggest export values in 2018 were pine sawnwood (24.7), wooden furniture (12.2), wood packing (11.8), wooden tool handles (5.8), and wood stakes (4.6). Europe imported forest products from Honduras for 4.3 million of USD in 2018. The five most appreciated products (in USD million) were tree seeds (2.4), wooden furniture (0.7), wood boards (0.5), mouldings (0.2), and wood packing (0.1).

Logistics infrastructure

To see a satellite map of Honduran ports, visit World Port Source. The destination countries of timber from Honduras are primarily the United States of America and countries in the region, as can be observed from the graph below.

Data table

ITTO (2019), data 2017