Category: 2017

While there are clear signs that the EU economy is picking up, EU trade in tropical timber continues to slide. Market trends in producer countries and other consuming markets are now probably more important drivers of trade volumes into the EU than the current and potential level consumption in the region.

There are significant new opportunities for the international hardwood sector, particularly with the growth of new markets in emerging countries and the development of new products such as hardwood CLT, but the industry continues to be held back by structural obstacles and is struggling to cope with rapid global shifts in trade and intense competition from substitute materials.

While imports of tropical sawn hardwood into the eurozone countries have failed to live up to expectations in 2017, having declined as economic growth has revived, imports into the UK have followed the opposite trajectory. UK imports of tropical sawn hardwood have held up well this year despite slowing economic growth. The UK imported 70,475 m3 of sawn tropical hardwood in the first 8 months of 2017, marginally more than 70,322 m3 imported in the same period in 2016.

The latest trade data shows that EU imports of sawn tropical hardwood have continued to slide this year, despite on-going economic recovery in the region. The decline is not restricted to tropical products. EU imports of sawn temperate hardwood have also declined in 2017, although at a slower rate than for tropical hardwood.

The European real-wood flooring industry continues to experience moderate growth, benefiting from encouraging economic developments, especially in construction activity. Compared to the same period last year, provisional results for the first half of 2017 point to a continuation of the positive parquet consumption trends observed in 2016 and during the first quarter of 2017.

Previous ITTO reports have highlighted how European furniture manufacturers have been taking larger share of the internal EU market in recent years, gradually squeezing out overseas competitors. This trend has been driven partly by increased price competitiveness at a time when the euro and other European currencies have been weak relative to the US dollar.

Public comments are invited on a draft report by the Independent Market Monitor (IMM), which is a multi-year project implemented by ITTO and financed by the European Union (EU) to support implementation of the FLEGT Voluntary Partnership Agreements between the EU and timber supplying countries.

The slowdown in EU imports of tropical timber products registered in the first quarter of 2017 continued into the second quarter. Twelve monthly rolling average imports, which peaked at just below €196 million in June 2016, fell to €183 in June 2017. Most of the rise and subsequent slowdown in EU tropical imports was driven by sawn wood. (Chart 1).

During June 2017, two large conferences in Europe addressed policy issues in relation to deforestation and illegal logging. The conferences reaffirmed the EU’s continued political commitment to trade related policy measures in response to concerns about illegal logging and deforestation.

Although overall economic conditions are improving in Europe, growth in key countries and sectors for the tropical hardwood sector is subdued and weakening in some cases.