Comment | 3
COMMENT
The statistics are in for the main wood product imports to the UK during 2024 and the overall figure shows a marginal volume growth. Timber Development UK’s
(TDUK) freshly published import stats (see Pg 6) demonstrate a 45,000m3
total (+85,000m3
volume increase in for softwood
imports), with a modest import
growth in softwood, plywood, OSB and engineered wood products. Volume reductions were recorded in hardwood, MDF and particleboard. TDUK believes that with the construction market still
being tough, the rise may reflect an increasing in stocks rather than actual consumption as 2024 ended. Turning to TTJ’s latest Softwood Update, (see Pg 8), we
see that as March began softwood traders continued to face an uncertain market with demand, only showing signs of a marginal increase over the previous two months, still lagging behind most peoples’ expectations. The forward market shows a modest improvement but
is product-specific and the main ongoing casualty is still C24.
As March progresses, raw material shortages and
increased log costs are starting to bite, and regardless of demand, prices are rising and recovering from the very low levels that prevailed in Q4 of last year. Regular price increments are now being heralded by producers. Now that we are in spring, the first glimpses of warmer
weather should provide a boost to the garden products market, with our annual update in this issue (Pg 32). The timber decking and garden products sector has been on an extended rollercoaster ride over the last four
GROUP EDITOR
www.ttjonline.com
► MARKET UPDATE – PLYWOOD & OSB We look at how the plywood and OSB sectors are faring so far this year
► MARKET UPDATE – FENCING & PALLETS We find out if spring has kickstarted fencing demand
► SECTOR FOCUS – JOINERY Is RMI underpinning the joinery sector, or has demand from newbuild picked up?
► SECTOR FOCUS – NORTH AMERICA TTJ finds out the latest from the North American timber sector
► SECTOR FOCUS – PANEL PRODUCTS We look at latest developments in the panel products sector
► SECTOR FOCUS – PRESERVATIVES & FIRE RETARDANTS TTJ looks at what is new for the sector
► LIGNA PREVIEW TTJ looks forward to the woodworking machinery show, held in Hanover in May
► PLUS REGULARS
Latest UK and world news; technical news; comment from industry figures; and latest appointments.
www.ttjonline.com | March/April 2025 | TTJ
TTJ – the voice of the timber Industry
years, with the high post-Covid peak of 2021 followed by the trough of 2023 and the early part of 2024. Now, there is hope that the rollercoaster is slowly
moving upwards again – if the weather stays good. In 2024, a cold, wet spring followed by unsettled weather proved a dampener. In this issue we also do a deep dive into the kitchens
sector. A huge amount of wood goes into kitchens, both panel products and solid wood. The UK kitchen market saw installations fall 11.3% to
1.133 million in 2023 – the last full year of stats available. The JKMR Overview Report on the UK Fitted Kitchen
Market 2024 believes installations will improve marginally this year, with households having had time to adjust to higher mortgage rates and new build levels improving. The combination of ongoing price rises and consumers seeking to upgrade, means the kitchens sector market value is currently projected to rise 3.3% to over £5.45bn. Lastly, we are delighted to launch the TTJ Awards 2025
– the 29th annual timber industry awards – with voting now open and entries for the judged categories also up and running. The Awards luncheon and ceremony will take place on September 19 in central London. For more details see Pg16-17 and visit:
https://awards-ttj.ttjonline.com.
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