Exports of Softwood Lumber to Declined 3% in H1 2018

The exports totaled nearly 2.31 million cubic metre in June this year, down by nearly 2% when matched with the same month a year before.

SEATTLE (Scrap Monster): The recent statistics published by Woodstat, based on export of softwood lumber to China by leading exporting countries, indicates marginal decline in exports during the Jan-June ’18 period in comparison with the previous year.

The exports totaled nearly 2.31 million cubic metre in June this year, down by nearly 2% when matched with the same month a year before. The combined exports to China during the first six months of 2018 totaled 12.7 million cubic metre, falling by 3% when compared with Jan-June ’17.

The Russian lumber exports to China continued to gain momentum. The exports during H1 2018 increased sharply by 5% to touch 8.43 million cubic metre. On the contrary, the Canadian exports tumbled by almost 20% over the previous year to total 2.26 million cubic metre. The exports from leading European suppliers too reported decline during the initial six-month period of 2018.

Meantime, the Chinese imports of plywood declined by 9% to 79,400 cubic metres in the first half of 2018, said the International Tropical Timber Organization (ITTO). The top exporter was Russia with supplies totaling 21,100 cubic metres, accounting for 27% of all imports by China. However, the imports from Russia declined by 10% year-on-year. The imports from Malaysia declined the most by 22% to total 19,850 cubic metres. The Indonesian supplies totaled nearly 15,000 cubic metres, down by 11% over the previous year.

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