Lower Montserrado County – Shangyou Wood Industrial Development Company’s rubber processing plant is preparing to export its first 100 forty foot containers of rubberwood while the company draws closer to the completion of the first three month intensive training for over 200 Liberian technicians.
The company, which is based in Lower Montserrado County – just at the boundary of Margi County, began operating its world-class rubberwood processing plant in July this year.
It has employed almost 300 Liberians including 69 women. Fifty-eight of the workers are assigned in Firestone, where most of the logging of rubber trees takes place and transported to the plant.
As the company goes through all the relevant government ministries and agencies to obtain the Export Permit Declaration to ship the first consignment, training of its workers is progressing without any major hindrance.
The firm has a five-year incentive and a possibility of acquiring a 15-year concession with the government. It has leased the land for 40 years, has a target of processing and exporting around 3,000 cubic meters of rubberwood per month. This will accumulate huge returns to Liberia in taxes and at the same time create additional jobs for locals.
Shangyou currently has a US$20 million investment in Liberia and has a long term plan of expanding its operations to turn the country into the regional hub of furniture and rubberwood products.
Many of the trained technicians were former employees of Firestone, who worked at the plantation’s rubberwood processing factory. The factory has since shutdown due to what was reported to be a poor business climate.
Now, Shangyou Wood is using the expertise of these Liberians along with 10 Chinese technicians to build the skill of over 200 of its employees.
For its long term plan, Shangyou Wood is looking to setup a Special Economic Zone for rubberwood furniture in the country.
With its wood processing plant, the firm says, the next step will involve value addition by producing furniture for export and then it will move into the establishment of an SEZ for production of massive high quality furniture for export.
“According to our plans, we want to build four or five rubber wood factories in Liberia,” Luo said.
“If we only process the timber here and export, it costs us a lot but if the furniture is produced here and exported to America, China, Europe and the Middle East, we will make more profits”.
The SEZ, the company says, will be the go-to-place for rubberwood furniture in the West African region considering that Liberia is neatly situated and has huge rubber wood capacity.
If the firm’s production capacity is fully realize, it would provide employment for 5,000 Liberians, the company announced during the opening of the factory in July.
