Category: 2015

European importers are reporting satisfactory overall demand for tropical timber in the first six months of this year: the majority of sources said business was stable or slightly better than last year. However, they also noted that the market had shown sharp fluctuations in the last few months, with periods of strong demand frequently being followed by several rather subdued weeks.

World production of furniture has grown constantly over the last five years. The CSIL Word Furniture Outlook currently estimates its worth at about US$480 billion, up from US$437 billion in 2013. Production in Europe and North America stagnated between 2009 and 2014. High-income countries accounted for 39% of production in 2014 and middle and low-income countries for 61%. The share of middle and low-income countries in world production first exceeded 50% in 2010 and has risen steadily since.

EU imports of tropical hardwood veneer were 63,550 m3 in the first quarter of 2015, 6% down on the same period in 2014. Imports from Gabon, the largest supplier, were 10% up at 34,744 m3. This gain failed to offset falling imports from Côte d’Ivoire (-20% to 15,189 m3), Cameroon (-16% to 4,085 m3), and the Republic of Congo (-42% to 2938 m3) (Chart 1).

The European construction and joinery sectors continue to recover slowly. The rate of recovery in the UK, which was rapid in 2014, weakened again in the first quarter of 2015. However there is confidence that the UK market will pick up again over the summer months. The large German market remains stable with good consumption. There is improving activity in the Netherlands, Poland, Spain and Belgium. The Italian and French construction markets are still weak and declining but there are signs of improving economic conditions in both countries. Imports of finished joinery products from outside the EU increased slightly in 2014, but the weak euro is acting as a drag on imports in 2015.

The EU imported tropical wood products worth €517 million in the first three months of this year, a healthy increase of 20.9% compared to the same period in 2014. To some extent the strong growth figures for the first quarter of 2015 are due to particularly weak imports in the same period the previous year.  The increase in the euro value of imports also needs to be seen against the background of the very weak euro on currency exchange markets. The euro was at its lowest level ever against the US dollar in the first quarter of 2015 and around 30% down compared to the same period the previous year.

EU28 imports of plywood increased 12% to 3.7 million m3 in 2014, the highest level since before the financial crises. Import value also increased 12% to €1.35 billion. The rise was driven mainly by improved consumption in several European markets, notably the UK. Another key factor was an increase in supply of Russian birch plywood combined with a sharp decrease in the value of the Russian rouble on foreign exchange markets which increased competitiveness of imported Russian product relative to domestic production. Another notable feature of the European plywood market in 2014 were signs that rising concern for the environmental and technical performance of plywood is having a more a significant impact on trade.

The first quarter of 2015 has been a busy time for EU policy initiatives linked to tropical forest and market development programs for tropical timber. There seems now not only to be a new urgency surrounding these initiatives but also a growing pragmatism with potentially positive implications for the tropical timber industry.

Imports of wood flooring into the European Union increased 4.9% to 29.7 million m2 last year, after declining steadily between 2010 and 2013. In 2014, wood-flooring deliveries from China, the single largest supplier, increased by 4.9% to 18.6 million m2. China accounted for 63% of total EU imports in 2014, exactly the same proportion as the previous year (Chart 1).

The EU imported tropical wood products worth €1.81bn in 2014, which represents a 3% increase over the ten-year low of €1.76bn registered in 2013. Between 2012 and 2013 imports had dropped sharply by 13.2 % and fell below the €2bn threshold for the first time. Even with the slight recovery, the EU’s 2014 tropical wood imports did not even reach half of what they were less than ten years ago (Chart 1).

The sharp rise in the EU trade surplus in wood furniture between 2010 and 2013 came to a halt last year as the pace of increase in EU exports slowed while there was an upturn in imports (Chart 1). EU28 wood furniture exports were valued at €8.43 billion in 2014, 2.3% more than in 2013. EU28 imports of wood furniture were valued at €5.11 billion in 2014, 10.4% greater than the previous year.