Tropical wood imports to Europe reduce in first five months of 2023

The ITTO update on tropical timber shared that the EU27 imported 710,800 tonnes of tropical wood and wooden furniture products in the first five months of this year, down 17% on the same period a year ago. The value of those imports was US$1.48bn, 27% less than a year ago. 

ITTO said the sharp downturn this year was mainly the result of the very strong start to the year in 2022. The total volume imports for Jan-May, 2023 were closely aligned with the long-term average between 2013 and 2019 “when trade was subdued but steady”. 

“While imports were reasonably robust between January and March this year, particularly in dollar terms, they slowed sharply in April before picking up again in May,” ITTO said.

“The normalisation of trade partly reflects broader conditions in the European economy in the sense that growth in the region has returned to the sluggish pace characteristic of the decade prior to the COVID pandemic. 

The declines seen in further processed products were more marked than raw or semi-finished products. Tropical mouldings/decking witnessed a 37% reverse in Jan-May and tropical joinery was down by 35%. 

Importing countries seeing the largest declines were The Netherlands, Germany, Denmark, Sweden and Ireland.

The EU27 imported 374,000m3 of tropical sawnwood in the first five months of 2023, 12% less than the same period in 2022. Imports increased from Gabon (+10% to 68,900m3), Congo (+22% to 41,100m3), DRC (+21% to 5,500m3 cubic metres) and CAR (+154% to 5,300m3.

However, these gains were offset by large declines in imports from Cameroon (-5% to 132,400m3), Brazil (-38% to 46,200m3), Malaysia (-38% to 28,200m3), Ghana (-19% to 9,500m3) and Ecuador (-35% to 6,300m3).