Gabon

Gabon is small in population, high in income per head, and has made one specific policy decision that matters enormously to EMM: raw log export has been banned since 2010, forcing timber to be processed inside the country. The Nkok special economic zone outside Libreville was built to house that processing, and it is now the single most concentrated source of machinery enquiries we handle in Central Africa. Cargo lands at Owendo or Libreville, with Port-Gentil serving the oil sector.

Timber first, then manganese and oil

Wood processing at Nkok and elsewhere buys the full range: debarkers, log carriages and breakdown saws, resaws, band and circular mills, veneer slicers and peelers, plywood presses, drying kilns, planers, moulders, sanders, finger-jointing and furniture machinery, plus dust extraction and boiler plant. This is capital-intensive and technically demanding equipment, and buyers here specify it carefully. Manganese mining at Moanda is world-scale and takes crushing, screening, washing, conveying, stockyard and rail loading equipment, heavy pumps, compressors and workshop plant. Oil and gas around Port-Gentil buys pumps, valves, compressors, generator sets and fabrication equipment. Agro-industry is developing - palm oil, rubber and food processing - and fisheries buy ice, freezing and cold storage.

Conformity and climate

Gabon operates an import conformity verification programme, so assessment takes place in China before shipment and the certificate travels with the documents. Gabon is equatorial and nearly 90 percent forested: humidity is high year-round, rainfall is heavy, and corrosion and mould attack electrical and electronic equipment persistently. We specify tropicalised windings, sealed enclosures and proper coating systems as standard. Electricity runs at 220 V and 380 V, 50 Hz. French documentation and markings as standard.

If you are commissioning a mill at Nkok, send us the log diameter range and the output you need and we will scope the line rather than quote a saw.