TDUK SupplyingTimber Issue 8 DIGITAL - Magazine - Page 21
———— TIMBER IMPORT STATISTICS ————
growth coming from the top
supplying countries – Latvia,
Estonia and the USA – with
the greatest growth of around
8,500m3 from Latvia. The
combined growth from the top
three countries was around
13,000m3, or 20%, mostly clawed
back by lower volumes from
Sweden and the remaining
countries outside of the leading
group.
Imports of hardwood plywood
in 2024 grew by around
24,000m3, fuelled by growth of
around 37,000m3 from China.
Growth in volume was also
recorded from Malaysia and
Latvia, resulting in a total of
over 42,000m3 more from these
three countries in 2024. These
were, however, o昀昀set in part by
lower volumes from Indonesia.
Growth rates of 6% were
achieved from China and Latvia
and imports from Malaysia grew
by 7%. Indonesian volumes were
17% lower.
Over 7,000m3 more hardwood
plywood was imported in
December 2024 compared to
the same month in 2023, with
this growth led by China (up
by more than 7,000m3) and
Malaysia (3,000m3 higher).
Lower volumes arrived from
many of the other supplying
countries in December 2024,
with Indonesia, Finland and
Latvia supplying collectively
nearly 2,000m3 less.
China drives softwood
plywood boost
For three-quarters of 2024,
softwood plywood imports were
at similarly low levels as in 2023.
However, the 昀椀nal quarter of
2024 has seen improvements
signi昀椀cant enough to see annual
volumes rise higher for the year
than in 2023. The main driver of
this improved performance has
been imports from China, higher
by around 15,500m3. A small
increase was also recorded
from Finland, while volumes
from Brazil and Chile fell by
around 3,000m3 and 5,500m3
respectively.
Imports of softwood plywood
in the month of December 2024
were around 4,500m3 higher
than in December 2023. In
contrast to the cumulative
annual totals, volumes
in the month from
Brazil were
higher and
very little
SUPPLYING TIMBER
21
was imported from China.
Volumes from South Africa in
the 12 months of 2024 resulted
in a share of supply for the year
of 2.5% but, in December 2024,
South Africa captured more
than 14% of the overall supply.
The value of all plywood
imports in 2024 was 4% below
2023 levels. Softwood plywood
values were almost identical to
those in 2023, with hardwood
plywood values falling by 5%.
Static softwood plywood import
levels were the result of a 2.4%
increase in volume balanced
by a 2.5% drop in the average
price. The fall in the value of
hardwood plywood of 5% was
due to a 2.8% rise in volume and
an 7.8% fall in average prices.
Particleboard imports fall
Meanwhile, particleboard
imports during 2024 were a
little less than 30,000m3 lower
than in 2023. This volume
reduction was mostly due
to a combined lower volume
from France and Germany of
around 48,000m3. These were,
however, partly compensated
for by volume increases from
Belgium, Portugal and Spain,
which collectively amounted to
a total of 28,000m3. The other
notable loss in volume in 2024
was outside of the leading
group of supplying countries,
with Switzerland experiencing a
7,000m3 decrease.
Changes in volume from the
leading countries virtually
cancelled each other out, with
lower volumes of just under
3,000m3 imported from France
and Spain while a combined
higher volume of a similar
SPRING 2025
THE MARKET
AS TIMBER IMPORTS BEAT 2023
