UK imports of Canadian softwood more than halved to 81,595m³ during the first six months of 2008 compared with a year ago, according to figures from the Council of Forest Industries.
The only species to buck the trend was western red cedar which, at 20,114m³ (18,326m³ in 2007), made up a quarter of all Canadian softwood being imported. The total volume of exports for the same period in 2007 was 193,843m³.
All Canadian exporting provinces saw declines in their shipments to the UK, with British Columbia holding its share the best at 62,695m³. Québec’s volumes to the UK dropped to 10,935m³ from 80,608m³ a year ago.
Ontario was the only province to increase its shipments but this was from a very low base (to 618m³ from 262m³).
A total of 48,036m³ of the main SPF product was shipped during the period, while hemfir products halved to 5,491m³, Douglas fir/larch dropped to 2,848m³ from 4,127m³ and white pine reduced to 2,317m³ from 4,915m³.
