Chinese forest products trade worth US$31bn in first half

China’s forest products trade was worth US$31bn during the first half of 2008, up 14% on a year ago, according to the International Tropical Timber Organisation.

Imports were valued at US$14.1bn (21% growth) and exports at US$16.9bn (up 8.8%).

Log imports reached 16.36 million m³ during the period – down by 18.2%. Softwood made up the lion’s share of the logs at 9.85 million m³, with Russia remaining the largest supplier, accounting for 64.8% of total Chinese log imports.

China imported 3.42 million m³ of sawnwood valued at US$962.3m, up 9.9% by volume and 14.2% by value, with Russia, Canada, the US and Thailand the main suppliers.

The country exported 3.775 million m³ of plywood during the first half, a 15.6% fall in volume.

But wood-based panel imports continued to drop from last year. Fibreboard volumes and value dipped 30.8% and 21.8% respectively during the first half. Imports of plywood from Malaysia and Indonesia were valued at US$91.1m, up 2% from 2007.