Statistics Update: TTF UK Imports | 13
IMPORTS RECOVERY CONTINUES IN UK
The latest TTF statistics show the recovery in imports continued into the new year SUMMARY
■ January 2021’s timber and panel imports were 12% up on January 2020
■ New trading relationships with the EU will not be clear for a number of months
■ Chipboard imports continue to be in the doldrums
■ OSB imports are still on the increase
effectively recovering the losses of 2020. In contrast, hardwood imports were down in the year-on-year comparison – by 5.5%. In January this year 38,000m3
was imported.
Here again there have been “relatively large” changes in countries’ share of supply, with major gains made by Estonia (up from 11% to 15%), Latvia (up from 5% to 9%) and Ireland (up from 1% to 10%). Falls have been recorded for the US, Italy and France and this suggests a change in the product mix. Total plywood imports were up 13.5% in the January year-on-year comparison, with 169,000m3
arriving this January.
Hardwood plywood imports were up 5.1%, with 87,000m3
imported in January 2021.
The recovery in timber import volumes seen in the second half of 2020 continued into the new year, with timber and panel imports 12% higher in January 2021 than in January 2021, reaching 895,000m3
.
The Timber Trade Federation’s (TTF) latest statistics – TTF Timber Statistics Industry Facts & Figures, April 2021 – show that, in January this year, solid wood imports were 20% higher than in January 2020, while panel product imports were up 2%. Softwood imports were up 21.9% in the year-on-year comparison, with this January seeing 530,000m3
of softwood arriving.
This, of course, was the first month of the UK trading since leaving the EU and there have been a number of changes in countries’ share of supply – Sweden’s fell from 46% in January 2020 to 36% in January 2021, while Latvia’s share rose from 14% in January 2020 to 22% in January 2021. However, the TTF cautions against viewing monthly data in isolation this early, saying that “the new trading arrangements with the EU will not become clear for a number of months”. The see-saw nature of softwood prices has been much in evidence over the last three years, says the TTF, with the value of softwood showing a 38% decline in January 2020 compared to January 2019 – and then around a 60% rise in January 2021,
Softwood Imports by Main Country, Jan 2021
10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45 50
0 5
46.0 36.0 Sweden
14.0 22.0 Latvia
13.0 11.0 Finland
8.0 10.0 Germany
6.0 5.0 Irish Republic
Increases in hardwood plywood volumes have been seen from China (up 9%) and Malaysia (up 5%), continuing the trend of 2020. Other leading countries of supply also upped their volumes to the UK, with only Russia shipping less than in January 2020. Softwood plywood imports were up by 24.1%, with 82,000m3 January this year.
being imported in
The growth was mostly down to the four leading countries of supply. Brazil’s shipments
were 7,000m3 higher than in January 2020
but it still lost supply share – down from 80% in January 2020 to 73% this January. China exported nearly 6,000m3
more softwood ply
to the UK in the month and because this was from a much lower starting point, this elevated its supply share from 4% in January 2020 to 11% in January this year. Chipboard imports were down by 41% in the year-on-year comparison, with 41,000m3 arriving in the UK in January. This follows 2020 being “the worst year for particleboard imports since 2013”, said the TTF. It added that UK manufactured chipboard continues to impact imports and that the UK leaving the EU may have influenced volumes from the three leading countries of supply in January 2021 – Germany, France and Belgium. OSB imports were up by an extraordinary 134% in the year-on-year comparison, with 58,000m3
being imported in January this
year. This, said the TTF, is a reflection on how badly 2020 started for OSB, which then recovered during the year and ended with the highest volume of OSB imports ever recorded. MDF imports were down 22.5%, with 60,000m3
being imported in January 2021. ■
2020 2021
7.0 4.0 Russia
The TTF is the UK’s foremost membership body for the timber supply chain. Its members constitute timber importers, merchants, agents and manufacturers and account for around two-thirds of the £10bn UK timber industry.
www.ttjonline.com | May/June 2021 | TTJ
% of Total
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