Tag: ITTO

The EU imported 2.04 million m3 of sawn hardwood from outside the region in 2017, 13% less than the previous year. (Chart 1).

Plywood prices are rising sharply in the EU on the back of buoyant demand across the region and supply issues in a range of key exporting countries. There is also now an increasing tendency to order more just-in-time, little and often to hedge against the risk of the present ‘market bubble’ bursting. That summarises recent feedback from leading European plywood importers and distributors on trade and market trends.

The total value of EU imports of wood products was Euro 18.17 billion in 2017, 2.4% more than in 2016. This followed an increase of 1.3% to Euro 17.74 billion in 2016. In 2017 EU import value was at the highest level since 2008 just before the global financial crises (Chart 1).

Sawn hardwood distributors in Europe are reporting good levels of activity but this has yet to feed through into a significant rise in tropical sawn hardwood imports.

The European trade show season is now well underway, starting in Germany during January with the Domotex flooring show in Hanover and the IMM furniture show in Cologne. The shows provide good insights into European wood market prospects in the year ahead.

The FLEGT Independent Market Monitoring (IMM) mechanism, which is hosted by ITTO with EC funding, has just launched a new website at www.flegtimm.eu.  The first edition of the free IMM Newsletter can be accessed at the website and there is also the opportunity to sign up to future editions which will be released at least quarterly.

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.