Republic of Congo’ Wood Products Exported to China: Insight of the Characteristics, Trends, and Perspectives for Sustainable Trade

Wood products trade sector remains crucial for many countries’ economies. This is also for the Republic of Congo (RC) where wood is the second most exported natural resource. In this study, we aimed to determine the predominant wood products exported from the RC to China from 2007 to 2019, analyze the trends related to this trade, compare the quantities of wood products exported to China and other destinations, and determine the perspectives for the sustainable trade. The descriptive study using graphs and tables, non-parametric technique Kruskal-Wallis, pairwise comparisons, and SWOT analysis made up the methodological basis for this study. IBM SPSS Statistics 26 software supported data processing. The results showed that logs were mainly exported to China, 92.585% of the three major wood products quantity (Logs, Wet sawnwood, and Dried sawnwood). Volume distributions between products categories differ significantly (Sig. = 0.000 < α = 0.05). Be-sides, a significant volume (69.32%) was exported to China compared to the other destinations, and volume distributions between different destinations differ significantly (Sig. = 0.000 < α = 0.05). The SWOT analysis describes weaknesses, strengths, opportunities, and potential threats related to RC’ wood products trade sector. The prospects for sustainable trade in wood products between the RC and China lie in establishing a good governance in the timber sector, supporting the emergence of domestic operators, and improving the business climate.


Introduction
Forest resources are essential for the world's biodiversity and humanity needs How to cite this paper: Ondze, D. B., Tong, M., & Mendako, R. K. (2021). Republic of Congo' Wood Products Exported to China: Insight of the Characteristics, Trends, and Perspectives for Sustainable Trade. Open Journal of Forestry, 11, 135-152. https://doi.org/10.4236/ojf.2021.112010 EU has negotiated the VPA contracts with Cameroon and RC, Ghana, Indonesia, and Malaysia to combat illegal logging timber by developing the systems to monitor, verify, and authorize legal wood to cover timber and timber products exported to the EU and other destinations worldwide (EU FLEGT, 2020). It was stated that the first agreement was initialed with Ghana in September 2008 and Congo in May 2009 (Moiseyev, Solberg, Michie, & Kallio, 2010), and which had a positive impact on timber exports in Cameroon (Brusselaers & Buysse, 2018). The legal timber presented challenges for timber producers in Ghana and Indonesia, which bypassed the EU market's legality (Acheampong & Maryudi, 2020). Besides, illegal logging represents 5% to 10% of the world's industrial Roundwood production, 12% of global softwood Roundwood trade, and 17% of the round hardwood trade (Creek, 2004). Another case is China's accession to the WTO that significantly increased imports of forest products and decreased domestic prices for lumber and wood products and the pulp, paper, and product related (Gan, 2004).
Several studies focused on determining the factors influencing the wood products international trade. The economies, distance, openness of the economy, population, forest resources, trading partners, policy to restrict logging, common border, free trade agreement, exchange rates, GDP, and GDPR, determined the trade in wood products (Buongiorno, 2015;Rahman, 2012;Vu, Tian, Zhang, & Van Nguyen, 2019). The promotion of the Chinese language in partner countries has been stated to be the factor that can increase the trade flow (Nasrullah et al., 2020). The current and potential volume affected trade in forest products between EU countries and Turkey (Akyüz, Yildirim, Balaban, Gedik, & Korkut, 2010). In other studies, the variations in GDP growth rates had a limited influence on the quantities supplied and traded due to limited wood supply potential. However, it affected actual prices, especially pulpwood and particulates (Trømborg, Buongiorno, & Solberg, 2000). Using the Global Forest Products Model, the market balance has been forecasted regarding the quantities produced, consumed, and imported (Zhu, Buongiorno, & Brooks, 2002).
Export policy on timber trade had been analyzed in some studies. The effect of export policy timber trade in Ukraine and the EU relieved that the wood industries positively impacted it, including a short-term period (Bublyk, Petryshyn, & Medvid, 2019). The export tax and the decrease in the permitted annual reduction increased exports of value-added wood products (Donkor, 2003). Another study showed that the capital investment, labor, and institutional factors implemented under the Structural Adjustment Program increased wood production (Owusu, 2001).
The transformation of local wood by the total or partial stopping of exports in logs has become one of the Congo Basin countries' forest development's primary objectives. In Gabon, the public authorities opted for a total ban on exports of logs to better frame economic policy in 2010 (Kombila-Mouloungui, 2019). Before this period, Gabon was the 13th largest producer of tropical logs in the world and the third-largest exporter with a share of 16% of total exports. The  (Kaplinsky, Terheggen, & Tijaja, 2011). The developing countries moved away from timber exports to exports of wood products processed, but the development project sector did not influence exports of processed wood products (Donkor, Vlosky, & Attah, 2006

Data Analysis
This study focuses on Insight of the Characteristics, Trends, and Perspectives for  (Koto, 2015).
We established those four elements related to the Congo' wood products trade sector from the literature review. In Table 1   In Figure 2, logs ratio is 92.59% of the total quantity, wet sawnwood 6.41%, and dried sawnwood 1%. This reflects the deficit in the forest industry's processing capacity in the RC, as in many tropical countries, and development in general. This context does not support sustainable trade, and the Congolese economy. Comparisons of Congo' major wood products quantities exported to China (2007China ( -2019 Based on Figure 3, the average volume of logs exported to China during this period is estimated at 412,298.03 m 3 , wet sawnwood 28,549.31 m 3 , and dried sawnwood 4472.77 m 3 .

Trends and Comparisons in RC' Major Wood Products
Kruskal-Wallis Test In Table A1 and Table A2, Kruskal-Wallis Non-Parametric Test relieved that the volumes between the three categories of wood products are not the same. The difference is significant at the significance level of 0.05 (Sig. = 0.000 < α = 0.05). Logs recorded a higher median score (Md = 412,298.03) than the categories of wood products (Wet sawnwood Md = 21,742.00; Dried sawnwood Md = 4472.77).
Pairwise comparisons of wood products highlight the comparisons of volume distributions between the categories of wood products exported from RC to  Table 2, the distribution of logs volume differs significantly from the volume of dried sawnwood (Ad .Sig. = 0.000 < α = 0.05); that of dried sawnwood differs significantly from wet sawnwood (Adj. Sig. = 0.034 < α = 0.05); and distribution of log volumes differs significantly from that of wet sawnwood (Adj. Sig = 0.019 < α = 0.05).   In   A total of 7,066,857.27 m 3 were exported to the five main destinations. Each destination's ratios are presented in Figure 5: the largest proportion is China 69.32%, Europe 20.23%, Asia (except China) 7.88%, America 1.73%, and Africa
Based on Table 4, the difference is significant between the volume distributions of wood products exported to Africa and America (Adj. Sig. = 1.000 > α = 0.05). A significant difference is observed between volumes exported to Africa and Asia (Except China) (Adj. Sig. = 0.044 < α = 0.05) and between America and Europe (Adj. Sig. = 0.004 < α = 0.05).

SWOT Analysis Based on RC' Wood Products Exports to China for Sustainable Trade
Sustainable trade participates in the international trading system to support the long-term domestic and global economic growth goals, environmental protection, and strengthening social capital. The definition of sustainability is quite a bit broader, including the three pillars of economic growth, social equity, and environmental protection, or what has come to be known in short-hand as the triple bottom line of profits, people, and the planet. The sustainability concept was first laid out in a landmark report issued by the UN's Bruntland Commission in 1987 (Olson, 2016;Keeble, 1988). Based on the status of RC' wood products exports to China and relevant literature review, we analyzed the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats to give some perspectives for sustainable trade between these two countries (FAO, 2014; Kessy, 2019).

Strengths
 The Republic of the Congo has large areas of production forests, divided into forest management units (UFA), some of which contain forest exploitation units (UFE). The Congolese forest is, therefore, an economic potential, endowed with the considerable timber resources that China needs for its economy;  The RC ranks 12th among countries with the largest FSC-certified forest area in the world and first in Africa. It has subscribed to many legal instruments of sub-regional and international scope in forest environmental management. This is an essential basis in the process of engaging in the legal certification of timber exported to China;  Asian investors, mostly Chinese, are attracted to the logging of forest species with high commercial value (Okoume, Sapelli, etc.) in the Republic of Congo. Chinese logging companies are continually looking for business opportunities in the Republic of Congo.

Weakness
 RC mainly exports logs to China. This is due to Industrial furniture produc- ensure the logging and export of sustainable timber to China. However, major weaknesses in governance and enforcement do not facilitate it, and many companies operate illegally;  Local Processing Units do not have the financial capacity in industrial equipment investment and certification. These units are sometimes deprived of the raw material that is mainly destined for China. This context compromises the competitiveness of the RC and export revenues that could support its economy.

Opportunities
 The wood products trade between the RC and China presents a significant opportunity for these two countries' economies. China has become the largest importer of all products. Also, the RC is included in China's Silk Road project. This provides an essential basis for making this trade sustainable;  Congo's adhesion to political, technical, and financial institutions working in favor of the Congo Basin forests (COMIFAC, OAB, OCFSA, RAPAC, OFAC, RIFFEAC, OIBT, ATIBT); Cooperation agreements with the European Union (EU); and conservation NGOs is an opportunity to strengthen its forest industry management and governance system, and set up the mechanism which can ensure the sustainability of timber exported to China.

Threats
 The export of raw wood products to China represents a shortfall in export revenues for the RC' economy. This is a relocation of the added value and intermediate consumption of the timber industry, which favors the fall in the GDP of the forest sector;  Country risk is a significant challenge for the RC, as it is on the list of countries with fragile situations. These situations can be summed up in terms of vulnerabilities concerning international investment (the various factors, including political, economic, social factors that can lead to a risk of disaster during an operation with a foreign country). These situations could affect the sustainability of the wood products trade between the RC and China;  RC's competitiveness with other countries endowed with timber resources and trading with China is a significant challenge that could change RC' wood products exports to China.

Discussion
Trends and comparisons in Republic of Congo' major wood products exported to China For the three main categories of wood products selected for the study, a total Open Journal of Forestry volume of 4,898,521.27 m 3 was exported from RC to China (2007China ( -2019. Logs turn out to be dominant wood products with a volume of 4,535,278.31 m 3 (92.585%); wet sawnwood represents 314,042.45 m 3 (6,411%) and dried sawnwood 49,200.51 m 3 (1.004%). Volume distributions between products categories differ significantly (Adj. Sig. = 0.000 < α = 0.05), and Logs recorded a higher median score (Md = 412,298.03). Trends in logs recorded 253% as increasing rate in 2009 and −61% in 2008; wet sawnwood 309% in 2013 and −47% in 2012; while dried sawnwood 7100% in 2008 and −97% in 2010. Industries' needs and preferences in China could be the reasons for changing trends. Besides, the production and processing capacity of industries and institutional framework in the Republic of Congo. The forestry policy report reveals that Congo exports almost half of its timber production in logs (FAO, 2014). Besides, it has been shown that practically all logs production is destined for export to Asia and Europe (Kessy, 2019). The export volume of finished and semi-finished products is still marginal. In 2019, RC exported 31.15 m 3 of finished products to China. In 1993, Cameroon had produced 2.5 million•m 3 and exported 1 million (Chronique, 1999). Another study revealed that between 2004 and 2012, log exports to Cameroon increased by 173% to Europe and Asia (Mahonghol, Ringuet, Nkoulou, Amougou, & Chen, 2016), China alone accounted for 55% of average annual exports during this period (Mahonghol et al., 2016). Forest Trends has shown that Chinese imports are dominated by logs and sawnwood, accounting for 80% in volume and value of total wood product imports (Weiss et al., 2019). However, sawnwood accounted for New Zealand's exports (Turner, Katz, & Buongiorno, 2008). Research in Zambia highlighted that 1.5% of production, mainly in untreated or low-quality sawnwood, is exported to neighboring countries, and 33% of international product panels quality are standards (Ng'andwe, Ratnasingam, Mwitwa, & Tembo, 2015).
In 2018, Cameroon was the largest supplier of sawnwood to France (30,000.00 m 3 ), Gabon occupied the second position (12,000.00 m 3 ), and the RC the third place (6300.00 m 3 ) (France Bois, 2019). The increase in the volume of wood production and added value could be an essential factor for the economy while prohibiting logs' exports (Amoah, Becker, & Nutto, 2009). In Vietnam, the furniture products, Roundwood, wood chips and particles, wood pulp, paper and cardboard, sawnwood, plywood, are mostly exported to Japanese, US, Korean, and Chinese markets (Vu et al., 2019). Other studies reported that about 90% of all Ghana exports were made up of sawnwood, veneer, and plywood in 2005, and 31% of the logs produced (Donkor, 2003). In 1998, China increased imports of logs from Gabon and Sarawak and plywood from Indonesia to meet its industries and domestic market (Kombila-Mouloungui, 2019).
These results corroborate ours, demonstrating the forest industry's low capacity in several tropical countries in general and developing countries. Therefore, international trade sustainability in these countries is called into question and their competitiveness in the global market.  (Sénat-France, 2020). Some studies showed that in 1993, Cameroon's exports were destined for Europe and the Middle East until the Asian countries became major importers of logs in Cameroon (Chronique, 1999). In France, during 2011, an important volume of wood product was exported to China. The rest of the production was sent to Indonesia, Malaysia, or Vietnam. In Brittany, the maritime pine and Silka spruce were exported to China in raw logs (Sénat-France, 2020).
Between 2007 and 2017, China's direct imports from countries implementing or negotiating a VPA with the EU increased by 113% in volume and 136% in value. Five of the 15 VPA countries are on the harmonized list of fragile situations: The Republic of Congo, the Democratic Republic of Congo, the Central African Republic, Ivory Coast, and Liberia. It was reported that from 2007 to 2017, China imported nearly $18 billion worth of logs from 33 countries, with total or partial bans on log exports. This factor makes China the destination where the vast volumes of timber are much more exported. At the same time, Europe insists on provisions relating to timber legality.
The 2015 ITTO report showed that exports of tropical wood products to China have boomed, doubling their value by nearly $EU 9 billion in 2013, from less than $EU 4 billion in 2009. Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, and Vietnam export significant volumes of value-added wood products to the EU. Ghana has exported different timber varieties to around 40 countries, where Europe was the leading destination in 2005 (Organisation Internationale des Bois Tropicaux, 2015). It has been reported that, in 2003, Japan was the largest market for china's timber product export, and in 2004, the United stated became the leading destination of china's export timber product (Sun, Cheng, & Canby, 2005 The RC's endowment of forest resources is a strength to make this country competitive in wood products trade. However, the emergence and development of the forest industry is still a problem. Malaysia's achievement owes to its companies, which have obtained forest concessions in many countries of Asia and even other continents, for an area exceeding that of their country of origin, thus ensuring an external supply (Kombila-Mouloungui, 2019). The endowment of forest resources is, therefore, a significant force.

Conclusion
This study allowed the understanding of the trends, characteristics, and perspectives in wood products export from the Republic of Congo to China (2007China ( -2019. Logs are predominant wood products exported to China (92.585% of major products quantity), and wood products volumes differ significantly. Besides, China is the destination to which the huge wood products volume (69.32% of five destinations volume) has been exported compared to the other destinations. The volume distributions between destinations differ significantly. The SWOT analysis describes the major weaknesses that plague the RC's wood products trade sector: weaknesses in governance and meager investment in the forest industry emergence. Strengths, opportunities, and potential threats were also discussed. The global timber trade sector remains a vital sector for the RC' economy, given the endowment of wood resources and its partners' network.
The prospects for sustainable trade in wood products between the RC and China lie in establishing a good governance system in the timber sector, supporting domestic operators' emergence, and improving the business climate.