WRI: Global Wood Chips Trade Surged in Early-2022

SEATTLE (Scrap Monster): The latest Wood Resources Quarterly (WRQ) report suggests rise in global trade of hardwood chips during early-2022, primarily driven by increased fiber demand from Chinese pulp mills.

The Chinese wood fiber demand continued its rising trend in 2022. The demand during the initial six-month period of the current year surged higher by approximately 13% over the corresponding half-yearly period last year. In fact, the country accounted for nearly 56% of the global hardwood chip imports.

The rampant pulp capacity expansion coupled with lack of domestic wood fiber has driven wood chips trade in China over the past ten years. The importation to China had touched a fresh peak of 14.8 million odmt during the previous year.

Meantime, the total chip imports to Asian region excluding China and Europe during early-2022 remained more or less unchanged from 2021. Excluding China, the world trade of wood chips has been relatively stable over the past decade. The only exception was 2020, when the total shipments fell to around 17 million odmt from the average levels of 19-21 million odmt. The decline was mainly due to supply chain disruptions on account of Covid-19 pandemic, WRQ noted.

The tight supply situation around the Pacific Rim may see Chinese pulpmills sourcing chips from new regions.

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