Mar 07, 2008. /Lesprom.com/. Ghana’s timber and wood products exports during the period January to December 2007 were 528,570 cubic metres in volume and valued at Euro 184.17 million, ITTO reported. Compared to the same period in 2006, this represented an increase of 17% in volume and 8.3% in value. Secondary products altogether amounted to Euro 167.92 million from January to December 2007 compared to Euro 152.07 million during the same period in 2006. Kiln dried lumber exports in 2007 were 120,480 cubic metres, or 22.8% of total export volume. This was a 6.1% increase in volume when compared to 2006 levels. Kiln dried lumber exports generated 7.7% more revenue, rising from Euro 44.12 in 2006 to Euro 47.51 million in 2007. For the year 2007, the total volume of air-dried lumber, including overland exports, dropped by 11.3% and registered 85,170 cubic metres in volume compared to the previous year. Earnings also fell 16.4% from 2006 earnings. When compared to 2006, the EU continued as Ghana’s leading trading partner in wood products for 2007, accounting for 160,278 cubic metres in volume and EUR 77.70 million in value. This represented 30.32% and 42.19% in volume and value, respectively, of total wood exports for 2007. Germany, France, Italy, Belgium, Spain, the UK, Ireland, and the Netherlands were the key markets for Ghana’s wood products. Exports to the US market in 2007 were 10.40% in volume and 13.26% in value of the total export volume, compared to 11.79% and 14.10%, respectively, in 2006. Ghana’s wood exports to states in the West African region were Euro 31.96 million, or 81.45% of the total market value for Africa. Plywood and air-dried lumber were mainly for the intra-regional trade to Senegalese and Nigerian markets. Wood products exports to Malaysia, China, Taiwan, India, Singapore and Thailand totaled Euro 33.04 million.