Tag: Market Report

It’s been a roller coaster 12 months for the European plywood industry according to stockholder importers and distributors in the region.  

There are signs that the upturn in the eurozone economy in the last 2 years will be short-lived and growth is stagnating again. Meanwhile, the trade war between USA and China has stirred fears of a new global recession and EU countries are anxiously awaiting the outcome of Brexit negotiations with the UK. None of which is good for market stability. 

The latest Eurostat trade data for EU wood furniture trade indicates that the trends reported by ITTO MIS in September 2018 (Volume 22, Number 18) have continued; internal EU trade is rising, whereas external trade is broadly flat, both on the import and export side (Chart 1)

The consensus amongst hardwood importers interviewed during December is that the current state of trade across the EU is satisfactory and there is cautious optimism it will remain that way into 2019. However various issues are causing concern.

EU imports of tropical wood products dipped sharply in 2017 and started this year very slowly but recovered some lost ground in the second and third quarters.

The previous Tropical Timber Market Report (16 – 31 October 2018) provided an introductory report of the Sustainable Tropical Timber Coalition (STTC) annual conference in Paris on 26 September.  That report highlighted the positive mood generated during the conference by the firm focus on the new tropical wood marketing initiatives launched by ATIBT and STTC with their strong links to the development of FSC and PEFC certification. 

The EU’s Sustainable Tropical Timber Coalition (STTC) held its annual conference in Paris on 26 September. The conference highlighted the ongoing work to promote tropical timber in Europe by STTC participants and raised questions about the role of targets for procurement of “certified sustainable” that are central to STTC activities.

The UNECE Committee on Forests and the Forest Industry (COFFI) released their Annual Market Review 2017-2018, together with several market statements by national governments in the UNECE region (which includes the subregions of Europe, North America and the CIS), in advance of their 76th session to be held in Vancouver on 5-9 November (see http://www.unece.org/index.php?id=47708 for details).

The latest Eurostat trade data shows that the EU’s wood furniture industry, having lost a little ground to imports in 2017, is struggling to increase sales outside the EU as the global trade slows. However, the sector is once again reinforcing its dominance in the home market this year.

EU imports of tropical sawnwood in the first six months of 2017 were 348,600 metric tonnes (MT), 19% less than the same period in 2016. The decline was particularly pronounced for trade between Cameroon and Belgium, following a surge last year, but also affected nearly all exporting countries and EU member states. The only minor exception was a slight upturn in imports from Angola, mainly destined for Portugal.