Industry Predictions 2026 | 19
Key initiatives like the refreshed UK Timber in Construction Roadmap and Welsh Timber Industrial Strategy (TIS) should drive growth, and in Scotland Confor is securing a very good hearing from political parties for our proposal that the next Government develop a Scottish TIS.
There are plenty of challenges in the industry and trade tariffs is one of these. Because of depressed global demand and US trade policy, we are seeing some interesting changes in trade flows particularly in relation to plywood.
August took down chipboard production for a couple of months but it’s good to see that the line is now back in operation. Wood supply hasn’t been an issue for the sector this year and because several biomass energy plants were offline there has been excess waste wood on the market which has created some problems in the supply chain. There are plenty of challenges in the industry and trade tariffs is one of these. Because of depressed global demand and US trade policy, we are seeing some interesting changes in trade flows particularly in relation to plywood. These are giving rise to concern particularly on the back of the imposition of anti-dumping duties by the EU on some plywood coming from China. As a federation we spend a lot of time on lobbying and throughout 2025 we have strengthened our core support through the engagement of the All-Party Parliamentary Group for the Wood Panel Industry in Westminster, the Cross-Party Group established in Holyrood and cross-party engagement in Wales. This engagement work is starting to bear fruit and recently the Scottish Affairs Select Committee in Westminster held an evidence session specifically on the wood panel industry.
Aligning with these developments, Confor is pleased to be a partner alongside BSW, Glennons, James Jones and TDUK in the campaign to promote the greater use of domestically grown and manufactured kiln dried C16 sawn timber. As Keith Fryer said in his November TTJ column, it’s ‘great news and hopefully will give more people that final piece of confidence to support British sawmilling’. I couldn’t agree more Keith! The UK timber resource is increasing in size and many years of investment in testing the qualities of domestic timber and in presenting a high-quality product to market mean the potential is there for significant growth.
Stuart Goodall, Chief Executive Ofcer, Confor
REAL SCOPE FOR GROWTH ALONG UK-GROWN TIMBER SUPPLY CHAIN…
As we enter 2026, the UK forestry and wood processing industry is once again hoping for a better year.
2025 did begin with some optimism as orders were a little better than expected, most likely due to the unexpectedly strong economic growth the UK experienced in Q1 and Q2. However, Trump’s tariffs and the impact of the employer’s National Insurance increase let the tyres down and the rest of 2025 was disappointing at best. Once again, in 2026, we have reasons to be optimistic about the longer-term picture, but face uncertainty regarding the short- term situation.
In the longer term, UK and global consumption of wood should continue to increase faster than increases in supply and governments across the UK are keen to see more home-grown wood being consumed, especially in long-life products in housebuilding and construction.
I’m pleased as well that Confor has secured commitments to plant more wood- producing forests in England and Wales, and we’re working with Scottish Forestry to accelerate large-scale productive planting. There is real scope for growth along the supply chain.
In order to tackle one of the big hurdles to growth and greater productivity, Confor has established a training company with early years funding support from member businesses and the public sector. This will seek to tackle market failure in areas of training provision.
A lot of work has gone into preparing the ground, to ensure the right policies are in place and to establish tools like the training service. The focus for 2026 has to be on faster delivery to bring forward tangible benefits to businesses, and we look forward to working with key partners including TDUK and STA to make that happen. If the UK Government can also spend some meaningful time on growing the economy and driving up housebuilding, with one eye firmly on timber, then 2026 may just deliver more in the short-term as well.
In the longer term, UK and global consumption of wood should continue to increase faster than increases in supply and governments across the UK are keen to see more home-grown wood being consumed, especially in long-life products in housebuilding and construction.
www.ttjonline.com | Spring 2026 | TTJ
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