ITTO Publishes Log and Lumber Import/Export Trade Statistics for 2018
The imports from New Zealand totaled 17.38 million cubic metres, accounting for almost 29% of total Chinese log imports.
SEATTLE (Scrap Monster): The Chinese log import volumes totaled 59.75 million cubic metres in 2018, higher by 8% over the previous year. The value of imports surged higher by 11% year-on-year to $10.984 billion. The imported log prices averaged at $184 per cubic metre, said the latest report published by the International Tropical Timber Organization (ITTO).
Out of the total, softwood log imports totaled 41.61 million cubic metres, accounting for almost 70% of the total log imports. The softwood log imports by China averaged at $139 per cubic metre, higher by 4% upon comparison with 2017 levels.
Meantime, hardwood log imports by China totaled 18.07 million cubic metres, accounting for 30% of the total log imports. The import prices averaged at $288 per cubic metre. Out of the total hardwood log imports, tropical log imports totaled 11.06 million cubic metres. The imports averaged at $312 per cubic metre and were valued at approximately $3.5 billion, said ITTO report.
New Zealand was the primary log supplier to China in 2018. The imports from New Zealand totaled 17.38 million cubic metres, accounting for almost 29% of total Chinese log imports. The second largest supplier was Russia with 10.48 million cubic metres. The CIF prices for imported logs from New Zealand and Russia averaged at $141 per cubic metre and $124 per cubic metre respectively.
The Russian log exports continued to drop in 2018. The log exports witnessed marginal decline by just over 2% to total 19.03 million cubic metres. On the contrary, lumber exports surged higher significantly by nearly 15% to total 18.7 million cubic metres during the previous year. The production of pellets by Russia too was up by 4.9% to total 1.410 million tons.