The Natural Resources Development Corporation Limited (NRDCL) has over 200,000 cubic feet (cft) of timber still unsold in their depots in different Dzongkhags. In a monthly timber allotment conducted in Bumthang, yesterday, only a handful of sawmill owners turned up.
Earlier, the officials say there used to be more than 50 sawmill owners during allotments before, but yesterday only 15 had turned up.
Now, the officials are worried that the huge stock of timber in their depots will perish without being sold.
“Because financial institutions have suspended housing loans we are finding it difficult to sell our timber. Demand has fallen drastically,” said Pema Norbu, Senior Finance Officer, Bumthang.
The NRDCL has even tried selling the surplus timber to private individuals and allotting unlimited timber to buyers. They also did away with the earlier method of allotment using a lucky dip system, to attract buyers. But all measures appear to have failed. At the allotment, yesterday, NRDCL could sell only about 15,000 cubic feet of timber.
Although, NRDCL officials in Bumthang want to export the unsold timber, a decision has not been made.
“The NRDCL is actually mandated to fulfill local timber demand only, but due to this situation, we are discussing the export of timber but no concrete step has been finalized at headquarters,” said Pema Norbu.
The officials say the export of timber could help ease the rupee shortfall situation to an extent. They add that if timber is exported, it will be done so at an increased rate. The current cost for a lot of timber is about Nu. 170,000.
