European imports of tropical plywood down 2%

The EU imported 302,828cu.m of tropical plywood in the first nine months of 2015, 2% less than the same period in 2014. EU demand for tropical plywood in 2015 has been negatively affected by the weakness of the euro relative to the US dollar, slow growth in the building sector in most European countries, as well as lower prices and short lead times for competing temperate plywood products from Europe, Russia and China. Imports of tropical plywood into the UK were 109,093cu.m in the first nine months of 2015, 4% less than the same period in 2014. Imports also declined into Belgium (-6.7% to 53,569cu.m), France (-1.7% to 35,746 cu.m), Italy (-2.6% to 19,384cu.m) and Germany (-17.2% to 17,705cu.m) during this period (Chart 1).

Of the six main tropical plywood consuming countries in Europe, only the Netherlands increased imports during the first nine months of 2015, by 20% to 48,471cu.m. This aligns with the trend in imports of other tropical wood products into the Netherlands, including sawn wood, joinery and flooring, all of which have increased significantly in 2015. After several years of decline, the Netherlands market for tropical wood has bottomed out and appears to be on the way to sustained recovery.

 Source: ITTO