Informing the Sustainable Wood Industry Since 1998
In 2021, the 27 countries of the EU together with the UK (UK27+UK) imported 609,000 m3 of hardwood veneer from outside the region, 17% more than in 2020. EU27+UK imports from temperate countries increased 23% to 303,000 m3 in 2021 while imports from the tropics were up 11% to 307,000 m3 (Chart 1).
In 2021, the EU27+UK imported 2.22 million tonnes of tropical wood and wood furniture with a total value of USD4.93 billion, a gain of 8% and 27% respectively in quantity and value terms. Compared to the pre-pandemic level of imports in 2019, imports last year were up 12% in value terms but still down 6% in quantity terms.
EU27 import value of wood and wood furniture products from tropical countries was USD3.69 billion in 2021, a gain of 23% compared to the previous year and 15% more than the pre-pandemic level in 2019. Imports finished the year strongly, the USD value of trade in November and December being at the highest level recorded for these two months for over a decade (Chart 1).
Intense negotiations are ongoing as the draft EU law on “deforestation-free” and “forest degradation-free” products, published by the European Commission (EC) on 17th November last year, navigates the various stages of the EU law-making process.
UK GDP increased 7.5% in 2021, the fastest annual growth rate in the UK since the second world war and making the UK one of the world’s fastest growing economies last year. But this “rise” must be considered in the light of the UK being amongst countries worst affected by the COVID-19 pandemic which led to a 9.4% fall in GDP in 2020 at a time when there was already uncertainty due to the country’s departure from the EU.
For the European furniture sector, as in other industries, the COVID pandemic is casting a long shadow, with no certainty yet that the most dramatic swings in supply and demand are in the past. Several European countries, including France and Italy, were reporting record numbers of new daily COVID cases in the last week of January, the increase due to the emergence and rapid spread of the new Omicron variant, first detected in South Africa.
After reaching the highest level for nearly a decade in the first half of 2021, the US dollar value of EU27 imports of wood and wood furniture products from tropical countries declined sharply in July and August. After a brief revival in September, imports fell away again in October (Chart 1).
The UK imported tropical wood and wood furniture products with a total value of USD1.1 billion in the first ten months of 2021, a 38% increase compared to the same period in 2021. Import value to end October this year was also 4% more than the same period in 2019 before onset of the COVID pandemic. Following the sharp increase in April this year, when import value was at the highest monthly level since before the financial crises of 2008 – 2009, imports declined only slightly from this peak between May and October (Chart 1). Continue reading “38% Rebound In UK Imports Of Tropical Wood And Wood Furniture Products. ITTO European Market Report 15th December 2021”
On 17 November 2021, the European Commission announced a Proposal for a new Regulation to reduce global deforestation and forest degradation driven by EU consumption of certain commodities. If enacted the law would have a profound effect on EU trade in the regulated wood and agricultural commodities. It would represent a very significant extension of state intervention in European commodities trade even compared to the existing controls imposed through the EUTR.
After reaching the highest level for nearly a decade in the first half of this year, the US$ value of EU27 imports of wood and wood furniture products from tropical countries declined sharply in July and August. However, import value during the summer months was still higher than is usual at that time of year (Chart 1).