According to the latest statistics from China’s Customs, foreign trade of China’s major wood products continued to grow in the first three quarters of 2008. However, the growth rate fell dramatically when compared to the growth seen in 2007 due to the global economic slowdown. Statistics show that the total value of China’s major wood products imports and exports during the first three quarters of 2008 rose 16% to USD49.3 billion, dropping 15.6 percentage points when compared to the same period in 2007. Of the total, the value of China’s major wood products imports grew 21% to USD21.5 billion and China’s major wood product exports rose 13% by value to USD27.8 billion, dropping 3.5 percentage points and 14.8 percentage points respectively. The trade surplus for wood products reached about USD6.3 billion, dropping 7.6 percentage points from the same period in 2007.

Imports
Logs
China’s log imports by volume were 2.3 million m³ and valued at USD4 billion during the January to September 2008 period, down 19% by volume and 0.3% by value from the same period in 2007. Of the total, softwood log imports were 14.3 million m³ and valued at USD1.8286 billion. Hardwood log imports were 8.8 million m³ (38%) by volume and valued at USD2.2 billion (55%). For hardwood logs, tropical log imports were approximately 5.67 million m³, accounting for about 24.5% of the national total and down 13% from the same period in 2007.

China’s imported logs were still mainly from Russia. By volume, they amounted to about 14.8 million m³ and were valued at USD1.99 billion, down 26% by volume and 2.8% by value from last year. Countries exporting logs to China in excess of 200,000 m³ were Papua New Guinea (1.8 million m³), New Zealand (1.2 million m³), Solomon (894,100 m³), Gabon (798,300 m³), Malaysia (683,400 m³), Myanmar (401,700 m³), Australia (345,008 m³), the US (297,100 million m³), Germany (260,400 m³), the Republic of Congo (256,400 m³) and Equatorial Guinea (238,500 million m³).

Sawnwood
In the first three quarters of 2008, China’s sawnwood imports were 5.2 million m³ and worth USD1.5 billion, up 8% by volume and 14% by value when compared to the same period in 2007. Of the total, softwood imports were 2.5 million m³ by volume and valued at USD499.3 million. Hardwood sawnwood imports amounted to 2.72 million and were worth USD1 billion, accounting for 52% by volume and 67% by value.

China’s imported sawnwood were mainly from Russia (approximately 1.4 million m³), the US (790,000 m³), making up 27% and 15% of the national total, respectively. Other countries importing sawnwood were Canada (746,000 m³), Thailand (594,000 m³), Malaysia (194,000 m³), Brazil (132,000 m³) and Chile (126,000 m³).

Wood-based panels
During January to September 2008, China’s plywood, fiberboard and particleboard imports continued to rise dramatically. Plywood imports were 234,500 m³ and valued at USD135 million, down 1.8% in volume and 1.4% by value from the same period in 2007. China’s plywood imports continued to be sourced from Indonesia (111,500 m³) and Malaysia (84,400 m³).

Imports of both fiberboard and particleboard decreased steeply. Fiberboard imports were 248,000 tons and worth USD109.2 million, down 26% by volume and 16% by value from the same period in 2007. Particleboard imports amounted to 182,000 tons and were valued at USD70.9 million, down 25% by volume and 6% by value from the same period in 2007.

Paper pulp and waste paper
Driven by domestic demand, imports of pulp and waste paper showed an increasing trend in the first three quarters of 2008. Pulp imports rose 7.6 million tons and were valued at USD5.5 billion, up 18% by volume and 33% by value from the same period in 2007. Waste paper imports were worth USD4.35 billion, up 45% by value from 2007 levels.

China’s imported paper pulp was mainly from Brazil (nearly 1.1 million tons), Indonesia (945,600 tons), Chile (939,600 tons), Russia (900,300 tons), Canada (835,700 tons) and the US (834,900 tons). Imported waste paper was mainly from the US (7.7 million tons), Japan (nearly 2.3 million tons), the UK (about 2.1 million tons) and Hong Kong (876,900 tons).

Wooden Furniture
A sharp increase was seen in the value of imported wooden furniture. During the first three quarters of 2008, a total of 4.9 million pieces were imported and valued at USD382 million, a 209% rise by volume and 169% jump by value. These products ranked first in terms of growth rates of wood product imports during the period.

Wood chips
Wood chip imports also showed an increasing trend due to the shortage of domestic timber raw materials. Wood imports were 897,200 tons and worth USD152.8 million, a 13% jump by volume and 44% rise by value from the same period in 2007.

Exports
Sawnwood
China’s sawnwood exports dropped due to the expansion of domestic demand and the adjustment in China’s trade policy. In the first three quarters of 2008, China’s sawnwood imports were 547,000 m³ and worth USD313.0 million, down 7% by volume and up 4% by value for the same period in 2007. China’s sawnwood exports were mainly to Japan (245,200 m³). In addition, a small portion of China’s sawnwood was exported to the US (67,900 m³) and South Korea (63,500 m³).

Wood-based panels
Affected by a fall in US imports, China’s exports of plywood and fiberboard fell markedly during January to September 2008. China’s plywood exports amounted to 5.9 million m³, down 13% by volume from the same period in 2007. China’s fiberboard exports amounted to 1.5 million tons, a 14% decrease by volume. China’s particleboard exports were USD35.4 million, up 35% by value from the same period in 2007. China’s plywood was mainly exported to the US (1 million m³). The top destination countries of China’s plywood exports were the UAE (502,000 m³), Japan (467,800 m³), UK (375,400 m³), Saudi Arabia (228,200 m³) and South Korea (221,800 m³).

Wood furniture
China’s wooden furniture exports were 203 million pieces, amounting to USD9.2 billion by value, down 2% and 20%, respectively, from the same period in 2007. China’s wooden furniture exports were nearly USD5.5 billion, with trade in wooden furniture using imported materials accounting for USD2.4 billion of total wooden furniture exports. The total value of trade with imported materials was USD131 million, or 1.4% of total trade.

Paper, paperboard and paper products
In the first three quarters of 2008, exports of paper and paperboard accounted for nearly 2.9 million tons valued at USD2.5 billion, or a 5% fall in volume and 12% increase in value. Paper products exports were 1.9 million tons. Paper, paperboard and paper products have been the major foreign exchange earners and ranked second in exports after wooden furniture.

Other wooden products
Exports of wooden doors, window and wooden floors, as well as wooden tableware, kitchenware, craftwork and tiny wooden products were 1.3 million tons and worth USD2.5 billion by value. These figures represented a 22% fall by volume and 11% drop by value from the same period in 2007.

Source - FORDAQ