Timber and panel imports to UK rose by 10.8% in 2017

The Timber Trade Federation has issued its Monthly Statistical Bulletin for April 2018. The stats show that volumes of imported timber and panel products in the first month of 2018 were lower than in January 2017 by around 68,000m3. It should be noted however that January 2017 was the best January by volume for over 10 years.

The 16% fall in volume of solid wood was somewhat offset by an 8% uplift in panel products, resulting in the overall decline of 7.3% for the month. The April Stats Bulletin also features a Focus on the 2017 Source of timber and panel supply to the UK.

Key findings include:

UK imports of the main timber and panel products rose in 2017 by 10.8% to climb to a total of nearly 10.9 million m3.

Europe accounted for the great majority of the volume imported to the UK, supplying almost 87% of all imports (+1% compared to 2016).

Import volume specifically from the EU amounted to 8.9 million m3, or around 95% of all volume from Europe, up from 93% in 2016.

The share of supply from Asia fell once again in 2017, to 7.5% of all imports, down from 8.0% in 2016 and 8.7% in 2015.

The share of supply held by North America was also lower in 2017, down to 1.7% from 1.9% in 2016, 2.1% in 2015 and 2.3% in 2014.

Central and South America amounted to 3.3% of the 2017 total, down from 3.5% in 2016 and 3.8% in 2015, while the share of supply for Africa in 2017 reached 0.7% (+0.2% compared to 2016).

Source of Supply for UK Timber and Panel Imports in 2017

Global Supply:

UK imports of the main timber and panel products rose in 2017 by 10.8% to climb to a total of nearly 10.9 million m3. Europe accounted for the great majority of this volume, supplying almost 87% of all imports, an increase in the share of volume of nearly 1%.

Volume from Europe rose to 9.4 million m3; more volume by nearly 1 million m3. Europe defined here is all of Europe including Russia. Import volume specifically from the EU amounted to 8.9 million m3, or around 95% of all volume from Europe, up from 93% in 2016. Imports from the EU as a share of all volume from all regions amounted to 82% of the total in 2017. 

The share of supply from Asia fell once again in 2017, to 7.5% of all imports, down from 8.0% in 2016 and 8.7% in 2015.

The share of supply held by North America was also lower in 2017, down to 1.7% from 1.9% in 2016, 2.1% in 2015 and 2.3% in 2014.

The increasing share of supply from Europe also affected the share of volume supplied from Central and South America where volume amounted to 3.3% of the 2017 total, down from 3.5% in 2016 and 3.8% in 2015.

Although the volume supplied from Africa is relatively small in overall terms, this region improved its 2017 share of total supply to 0.7% from 0.5% in 2016.

Supply from Europe:

Softwood continues to be the highest volume product imported from Europe, accounting for nearly 71% of all volume from Europe. Despite greater volumes of softwood imported in 2017 from Europe, the share of supply fell from nearly 73% of the total in 2016. This was due to higher growth of hardwood and MDF supplied from and through European countries in 2017.

The share of hardwood supplied in 2017 rose to 3.2% of the total, up from 2.6% in 2016. The share of MDF increased to 8.1% of supply from Europe, up from 7.1% in 2016. The share particleboard and softwood plywood supplied from Europe in 2017 was very similar to 2016. Less hardwood plywood imported from Europe realised a lower share of supply, down to 2.9% from 3.5% while growth in OSB volume raised its share to 4.1% of the total, up from 3.2% in 2016.

Supply from Asia:

The great majority of imports to the UK sourced from Asia consists of hardwood plywood with the share this product accounting for 90% of all volume from this region - very similar to that in 2016. China, Malaysia and Indonesia all increased shipments of hardwood plywood to the UK in 2017. A small increase in the volume and share of softwood plywood from Asian countries took place in 2017.

Supply from the Americas:

Central and South America supplies the majority of softwood plywood imported by the UK with nearly 89% of the volumes sourced from this region consisting of softwood plywood.

The majority of supply from North America is hardwood and softwood. The share of softwood supplied from North America rose in 2017 to 32.5% from 29.5% in 2016 with both Canada and the USA shipping higher volumes. The share of hardwood from this region fell from nearly 63% of the 2016 total to 58% in 2017 due to a reduction in hardwood volume supplied from the USA.