The rate at which UK timber imports reduced speeded up towards the end of last year, with the total volume to November 3.1% lower than the equivalent 11 month period in 2018.
The Timber Trade Federation (TTF) Timber Statistics, Industry Facts & Figures for February 2020 reveals that import volumes for January-November were 312,000m3 lower than the same 2018 period, with volumes over the last four months in particular decline.
In November last year, for example, imports were 18.3% down on November 2018.
Softwood imports in the January- November year-on-year comparison were down 1.9%, with cumulative volumes to November at 6,029,000m3 (2018: 6,143,000m3).
The changes in share among the supplying countries has been minimal, with the greatest movement being seen by Germany and the Republic of Ireland, whose volumes grew by 2.5% and 2.8% respectively. Russia, however saw a 7.5% decline in the 11 months to November.
Values have also taken a hit, with the value of all softwood to November 2019 7.8% lower than the corresponding 2018 figure. Sawn goods value was down by 10% while planed goods value was down 4.6%.
Average softwood prices had fallen 6.1% by the end of November.
At the other end of the scale, hardwood imports were up by 6.6%, with cumulative volume to November 493,000m3 (2018: 463,000m3).
The two top hardwood suppliers to the UK, the US and Estonia, both sent less here – 7% and 4% respectively. As a result, their share of UK hardwood imports has fallen from 19% to 17% for the US and from 15% to 13% for Estonia.
Other hardwood supplying countries upped their volumes, with Latvia coming out on top and now accounting for 11% of share (up from 8%). France also shipped more hardwood to the UK and accounts for 10% share (up from 8%).
Plywood imports were down 8.5% in the January-November comparison periods, with cumulative volume to November at 1,372,000m3 (2018: 1,499,000m3).
Within that total, hardwood plywood imports fell by 10.3%, with cumulative volume to November 880,000m3 (2018: 980,000m3). As the statistics show, 100,000m3 less hardwood plywood was imported to the UK in the 11 months to November than the same period of 2018, with nearly 90% of this loss being attributed to lower volumes from China, Indonesia and Malaysia.
Russia’s hardwood plywood shipments to the UK have also fallen, with only Finland in the leading supplier group showing an increase in volume over the period – a third more, in fact.
Softwood plywood imports were also down – by 5% – with cumulative volume to November at 492,000m3 (2018: 518,000m3). China, Chile, South Africa and Finland all sent less softwood plywood to the UK, while both Brazil and France increased their shipments. Brazil now accounts for 58% share, up from 51% in January-November 2018, while France is on 5%, up from 3%. Chipboard imports were down by 13.5%, with cumulative volume to November at 806,000m3 (2018: 932,000m3).
The two leading countries of supply, Germany and France, along with Portugal, collectively increased their shipments by more than 19,000m3 compared to the same period last year, so the drop is down to lower volumes from Belgium, the Republic of Ireland, Italy, Spain and Poland. Together, these five countries account for almost 90% of the volume lost in 2019 to date.
OSB imports continue to buck the trend and were up by 12.1% in the comparison periods. Cumulative volume to November was 375,000m3 (2018: 335,000m3).
Meanwhile, MDF imports were down by 2.2%, with cumulative volume to November at 683,000m3 (2018: 699,000m3).
