China increased imports of sawn timber by 1% from Europe till September but log imports fell by 32%

Posted on November 28, 2022   |  

• In the first nine months of 2022, sawn wood imports to China from the European Union grew by 1% to 1.983 million m³ in volumes and 5% to $642 million in value. 
• However compared to 2021, the sawn timber imports from the EU to China, fell by 9% to 19.85 million m³ and in value fell by 0.04% to $5.79 billion compared to the same period in 2021.
• Lumber imports to China from Russia grew by 1% to $2.31 billion in value but fell by 9% to 9.86 million m³ in volume.
• From Finland, Germany, and Sweden sawn timber imports to China grew by 4% to 564 thousand m³, 3% to 446 thousand m³, and 21% to 361 thousand m³ respectively.
• In addition, lumber imports from Austria and Croatia grew by 80% and 21%, respectively but sawn timber imports to China from Romania fell by 16% to 209,000 m³.
• In the same period, log imports to China fell by 32% to 33 million m³, which cost $6.732 billion, down 22% compared to the same period in 2021.
• The log imports from the EU fell by 41% to 8.21 million m³ in volume and 28% to $1.67 billion in value compared to January-September 2021.
• Deliveries from the biggest supplier, New Zealand, fell annually by 16% to 12.84 million m³, worth $2.02 billion, down 16% year-on-year in terms of volume and down 19%.