Statistics: TDUK Timber Imports | 13
DOWN ON LAST YEAR IMPORTS REMAIN Latest stats from the TDUK show import volumes still lagging over last year’s SUMMARY
■UK timber imports follow three-year pattern
■Softwood import volume will recover by around 5% in 2025
■The Congo Republic is the sixth largest supplying country of hardwoods in 2024
■China’s dominance in the supply of hardwood plywood to the UK continues
were down 4.4%, with cumulative volume at 50,000m3
(2023: 53,000m3 ). ); and temperate
hardwood imports in the period were down 2.5%, with cumulative volume at 158,000m3 (2023: 163,000m3
In the first seven months of 2024, volumes of the main timber and panel products imports were 2.8% lower than over the same period last year.
This is according to Timber Development UK (TDUK) in its Timber Statistics, Industry Facts & Figures, October 2024, which adds that UK imports over the last three years have followed a similar monthly pattern. “Even the extraordinary demand in the summer of 2021 ended with volumes returning to the usual seasonal development by the autumn of that year,” said TDUK. Softwood import volumes from January- July this year were 1.3% down on the same period in 2023, with cumulative volume at 3,570,000m3
(2023: 3,618,000m3 ).
Volume from Ireland has grown in 2024 by 9.5%, while volume from Germany has fallen by almost 9%. Imports from Latvia are up by 5.5%, while imports from Sweden and Finland were down 4% and 9% respectively. The TDUK’s National Softwood Committee (NSD) believes that softwood import volume will remain subdued in 2024, falling to around 5.6 million m3
before a recovery in
2025 of approximately 5% to reach a level of around 5.9 million m3
.
Total January-July hardwood imports were down 6.8% on the same 2023 period, with volume at 264,000m3
(2023: 284,000m3 ). Tropical hardwood imports in the period
The TDUK 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 | November/December 2024 | TTJ
Both Latvia and the US shipped less hardwood to the UK in the January-July 2024 period than in the same period last year, while higher volumes came from France, Estonia, Romania and the Congo Republic. The latter became the sixth largest supplying country of hardwoods in 2024 to date, claiming 5% of all hardwoods imported into the UK. Total plywood imports for January-July 2024 were down 4.8% on the same period of 2023, with cumulative volume at 718,000m3 (2023: 754,000m3
).
Within that total, hardwood plywood imports were up by 2%, with cumulative volume at 512,000m3
(2023: 502,000m3 ).
China’s dominance in the supply of hardwood plywood to the UK continues, with its share of supply rising from 69% in January-July 2023 to 71% in the first seven months of this year.
Along with Malaysia and Indonesia, many of the smaller supplying countries exported
less hardwood plywood to the UK. Softwood plywood imports in January- July 2024 were down 18.2% over the same period last year, with cumulative volume at 206,000m3
(2023: 252,000m3 ).
Brazil shipped 17.6% less softwood plywood volume to the UK; Finland 26% less; and Chile 45% less.
Chipboard imports from January-July were down 2.8% on the same period of 2023, with cumulative volume at 354,000m3 364,000m3
(2023: ). The TDUK notes “significant
changes to the supply chain”, with the once dominant positions of France and Germany, which together accounted for 56% of imports in 2023 having weakened to 47% of the January-July 2024 total. In contrast, the combined share of supply held by Belgium, Portugal and Spain has increased from 32% in 2023 to July, to 40% in 2024 to July. Imports of OSB in January-July this year were down 2% on the same period of 2023, with cumulative volume at 259,000m3 264,000m3
(2023:
). Imports of MDF in January-July this year were down 7.3% over the 2023 comparison period, with cumulative volume at 439,000m3
(2023: 474,000m3 ). ■ Softwood Imports by Main Country, Jan-Jul 2024/2023
10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45 50 55
0 5
49.0 48.0 Sweden
15.0 16.0 Latvia
13.0 12.0 Finland
8.0 7.0 Germany
7.0 7.0 Irish Republic
2023 2024
% of Total
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