UK achieves highest timber import volumes of 2024 in May

UK achieves highest timber import volumes of 2024 in May

Posted on August 14, 2024 |

Timber imports in May 2024 were 897,000m³, slightly lower than the 969,000m³ in May 2023.

For January to May 2024, timber imports were about 4% down compared to the same period in 2023.

Timber volumes in May 2024 were 7% lower than in May 2023, after a 5% increase in April 2024 compared to April 2023.

Softwood imports fell by 4%, but planed spruce imports (45% of softwood) grew by 3%, with increases from Sweden (+4%), Latvia (+17%), Ireland (+18%), and Norway (+104%).

Price cuts of 5% to 15% helped boost imports from Latvia, Ireland, and Norway, while Sweden saw growth without changing prices.

Hardwood imports from January to May 2024 were about 20,000m³ less than during the same period in 2023.

Tropical hardwood imports were nearly 3% lower in early 2024 compared to the same time in 2023, with declines from the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Malaysia.

China now accounts for 70% of hardwood plywood imports, up 6% by May 2024, and overall hardwood plywood imports have risen by 3% this year.

Previous Next

1. Digital Fairness: How Your Sentiment is Calculated

Methodology & Fairness Statement: To ensure a fair and relevant market outlook, our system uses a weighted decay model to prevent outdated sentiment from skewing current forecasts.

The Active Window: We only count 100% of votes from the current month and the 50% most recent votes from the previous month. Votes older than 60 days are purged from the calculation entirely.

Neutrality Bias: To prevent exaggerated market trends, if "Stable" votes outnumber directional votes, the forecast remains flat.

Opposition Awareness: If the community is divided (e.g., many positive and negative votes), our algorithm automatically flattens the visual slope of the forecast to reflect the lack of consensus. This ensures the graph represents "Community Vibe" rather than an artificial consensus.

2. Data Rights: GDPR & Privacy Notice

Your Voting Rights & Privacy: Your participation in our market surveys is designed with Privacy by Design principles in accordance with GDPR.

Anonymization: Votes are collected as anonymous data points. We do not link your specific directional vote to your personal identity in any public-facing output.

Storage & Time-Stamping: Each vote is time-stamped to ensure it is only used within its relevant 60-day window.

The "Right to be Forgotten": Because votes are month-bound and expire from the active calculation after the previous month closes, your sentiment data is naturally phased out of our live forecasting model every XX days.

3. Community Insight & Market Disclaimer

Important Disclosure: Not Official Data
This forecast is an indicative sentiment tool and is not a source of verified truth.

Not Government Data: These projections are based on community sentiment and historical trends; they are not official government statistics, audited financial reports, or "inside" data.

Not Financial Advice: The directional arrows (Up/Down/Stable) are for informational and research purposes only. They should not be used as the basis for any investment or trading decisions.

Diminishing Accuracy: Forecasts are generated for a 3-period horizon. Please note that the accuracy of these projections decreases significantly the further they extend into the future.