Timber News: Europe Brief

Posted on October 8, 2020

• EU GDP this year is set to decline by at least 7 8% • Construction market in Europe set to decline by 11.5% and GDP by 8%. • Softwood sector comparatively did better than hardwood sector as DYI, renovation sector, and packaging sector did well during the crisis , while furniture production declined . • Oversupply of logs for years in Central Europe due to unprecedented bark beetle attacks causing scarcity of raw materials • Due to bark beetle infestation , Russian exports to Egypt of sawn softwood dropped significantly in the course of 2019. • In June 2020, Russia is behind Sweden and Finland where 150,000 m3 was imported by Egypt monthly from Sweden, around 115,000 m3 from Finland and around 85,000 m3 from Russia. • Russian exports of softwood logs to China were down 30% in Jan-Jul 2020 year on year. • Germany is now the second largest exporter of logs to China at 3.7 million after New Zealand • Russian exports of sawn softwood to China were down 12% in Jan-Jul 2020 year on year. • China imports of sawn softwood were down 10% to 15.2 million m3 in Jan-Jul 2020 year on year. • Finnish exports declined 20% to 610,000 m3, while Swedish and German exports were both up 50% with 620,000 m3 and 560,000 m3 respectively. • Ukraine is also gaining market share in China. • Russian construction market is expected to be extremely weak this year and decline is expected to be in double digit. • German and Scandinavian sawmills did better than other European sawmills • German softwood export are down only 1% in H1 2020 and sales only 0.2%, • Sweden export are up by 13%.