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Report from
Europe
UK timber imports fall as construction output declines
Against the background of a slow economy, with 2024
GDP growth forecast at just 0.7%-1.1% and particularly
contracting construction output, UK timber imports fell in
the first half of the year.
According to the latest figures from the UK timber trade
body Timber Development UK (TDUK), timber and wood
products imports overall were down 3.6% in volume from
January to June compared to the same period in 2023, to
4.9 million cu.m.
The sharpest contraction came in wood panel products,
with volumes 6.1% lower over the six months. Solid
wood imports (hardwood and softwood combined) were
down 1.2%.
The TDUK said that in most months during the period,
overall import figures ‘closely matched the volumes of
2023’, however there was a significant fall in March.
More positively, imports in June 2024 rose 0.5% on the
same month in 2023, helping keep the year-on-year deficit
for the first six months overall at 3.6%. That compared
with a 4.3% volume fall for January to May on that period
last year.
Temperate and tropical hardwood imports altogether in the
first half of 2024 were 7% lower in volume than the first
half in 2023 at 225,000 cu.m and 6.2% lower in value at
£174 million. A 10,000 cu.m fall in imports from Latvia
was the main factor
Tropical hardwood imports were 2.7% lower in volume at
44,000 cu.m, and 3% in price at £41 million.
The Republic of the Congo increased its sales to the UK in
the first half of 2024 by 24%, giving it a 30% share of the
UK’s total tropical imports. This put it ahead of
Cameroon, which supplied 4% less giving it a total UK
tropical import market share in the six months of 28%.
The UK’s tropical timber imports from the Democratic of
Congo and Malaysia also both fell in the first six months,
by 30% and 22% respectively.
Poland’s sales of tropical timber to the UK rose to give it
an import market share of 6%. That compared to 1% in the
first half of 2023. The main species it re-exported were
virola, imbuia and balsa, but TDUK did not have access to
details on the countries of origin.
UK temperate hardwood imports in the first half of 2024
compared to the same period in 2023 were 3.3% lower in
volume at 133,000 cu.m and 3.1% in value at £112
million. Besides Latvia, import volumes from the US,
Germany and Croatia were all down.
The volume from France rose 1% to give it a 22% share of
UK temperate hardwood imports. That put it ahead of the
US, with its share falling from 22% in the first half of
2023, to 21% in the period this year.
The UK’s imports from Romania increased in volume by
23%, taking its share of the country’s total first half
temperate hardwood imports up from 9% in 2023 to
11%this year. UK first half mixed hardwood imports
declined by 20.2% in volume from 2023 to 2024 to 48,000
cu.m and by 24.1% in value to £21 million.
Total UK plywood imports in the first six months fell
3.7% by volume to 646,000 cu.m. However, this was
accounted for by contraction in softwood plywood
imports. Imports of hardwood plywood were up 4.1% on
the same period in 2023 to 459,000 cu.m.
Biggest growth came in imports from China. These were
up by 7%, equating to an increase of about 21,000 cu.m.
That was around 3,000 cu.m more than the total increase
in imports from all other countries.
The rise increased China’s share of the UK hardwood
plywood import total in the first six months to 72%.
Indonesia came next, but with its share down from 6% to
5%, while Malaysia and Latvia’s share was stable at 5%
and 4% respectively.
While volumes were up, however, the value of UK
hardwood plywood imports in the first six months was
down 7% due to an 11% fall in average price.
In June, the UK imported around 5,500 cu.m more
hardwood plywood than in the same month in 2023.
Again, this increase was accounted for by a rise in imports
from China, up by over 6,500 cu.m on June 2023. That
pushed its share of UK imports for the month up to 76%,
compared with 73% in June last year.
UK softwood imports in the first half of 2024 were 2.6%
on the same time last year at 3.04 million cu.m. The major
drag on trade, said TDUK, was a 6% fall in imports from
Sweden and a 9% reduction from Finland. This offset a
rise of 9% in imports from its other top three softwood
supplier, Latvia.
The value of softwood imports in the first half was down
4% due to the volume decline combined with a 1.3% fall
in the value of the UK’s basket of imports.
Softwood plywood imports into the UK in the first six
months totalled 187,000 cu.m, a decrease of 18.6% on first
half in 2023. Volume from Brazil was 28,000 cu.m lower,
while imports from the UK’s other lead suppliers, Finland,
China and Chile all fell between 3,000cu.m and 5,000
cu.m.
The value of softwood plywood imports in the first six
months of 2024 was down 23% due to the combination of
the decline in volumes and a 5% drop in average price.
Brazil accounted for the biggest share of UK softwood
plywood imports in the period, up 1% from 2023 to 68%.
Finland and China’s share was stable at 10% and 9%
respectively, while Chile’s was pegged back 2% at 3%.
UK imports of particleboard in the first six months of this
year were 3.8% lower at 300,000 cu.m. Imports of OSB
were down 7% at 217,000 cu.m and MDF 5.9% at 385,000
cu.m.
Turning to engineered wood products, UK imports of
laminated veneer lumber were 21.4% lower in the period
and cross laminated timber 15.3% at 14,000 cu.m. But
imports of glulam rose 12.2% to 23,000 cu.m.
The timber trade attribute the virtually across the board
fall in UK timber imports chiefly to the continuing
slowdown in construction and consequently in the building
products market.
The Builders Merchants Building Index (BMBI), produced
by the UK Builders Merchants Federation, showed
merchants’ sales increase in the second quarter of 2024 on
the first quarter.
However, on a like for like basis, they were down 8.8% on
the second quarter of 2023. Sales of builders’ merchants’
two biggest product categories, timber and joinery
products and heavy building materials (such as bricks and
blocks) were down 7.4% and 8.4% respectively.
Simon Woods, the BMBI’s wood panel expert and
European sales, marketing and logistics director of forest
products giant West Fraser, said that the commitment of
the UK’s new Labour Party government to deliver 1.5
million additional new homes in the next five years was
potentially ‘great news’ for the construction products
sector.
Quoted in the UK Timber Trades Journal, however, he
raised a question mark over the target.
“If we are to build 300,000 homes per year, starting now,
we need considerable change,” he said. “2023-2024 saw
fewer than 150,000 house completions, so we are looking
at a 100% increase in a very short period.
The last time we built 300,000 homes a year was 50 years
ago, and local authorities provided approximately half of
them. That means either private developers will need to
flood the market, or local authorities will need to step back
into building social housing – which is unlikely given the
state of UK public finances.”
But Mr Woods said that if the government only achieved
half its building target it would still herald ‘better times for
all involved in the construction industry’.
“For timber-related markets, the ramp up could be more
focused than other sectors, as offsite or modern methods
of construction [which favour use of timber] could be the
route to higher housing volumes without the stress of
finding skilled labour,” he said.
“Many of the major housebuilders have [or are building]
timber frame housing facilities and it could well be these
that are able to grow output most quickly.”
According to latest industry forecast from the UK
Construction Products Association (CPA), UK
construction output is set to fall by 2.9% in 2024. That is a
steeper decline than the 2.2% predicted in its previous
report three months before.
“This is primarily due to recovery in the two largest
construction sectors, private housing new build, and
repair, maintenance and improvement being pushed back
until the Bank of England cut interest rates and consumer
confidence strengthens,” stated the CPA.
It said the construction sector’s recovery is not now
forecast to be until 2025, with 2% growth predicted,
followed by 3.6% in 2026.
Commenting on the CPA forecast, its head of construction
research Rebecca Larkin said: “There have been clear
signs of intent from the new [Labour] government,
particularly around planning policy to improve housing
and infrastructure delivery. However, with little detail at
this stage, it is difficult to see any near-term construction
uplift.”
But better news for the medium to longer term for
construction is now coming from the Bank of England. It
finally cut interest rates, for the first time in four years, in
August from 5.25% to 5%, with the eventual outcome of
this set to be a boost to house-buyer confidence due to
lower mortgage rates.
The Bank has also hinted that, dependent on inflation
remaining low, borrowing costs would continue to fall.
With inflation currently close to the Bank’s target of 2%,
UK media attention has focused on how many more
interest rate cuts will follow in coming months. The Bank
has two more meetings left this year to decide on rates, in
November and December.
See: https://timberdevelopment.uk/
https://www.ttjonline.com/
https://www.constructionproducts.org.uk/
https://bmbi.co.uk/
Invitation to European timber companies – mission to
Selva Maya forest operators
Businesses interested in sustainable tropical timber
sourcing have the opportunity to explore timber species
and meet key suppliers in Selva Maya a tropical forest
region extending over Belize, northern Guatemala and
southeastern Mexico. The Selva Maya is the most
extensive tropical rainforest of Mesoamerica
The European trade mission to the Selva Maya forest in
Central America is aimed at developing business to
business contacts and timber exports from the region. The
initiative is being organised by the Rainforest Alliance,
FSC and Probos.
The mission is taking place from November 17 to 24 and
is open to timber importers, traders and distributors.
Urban and other local authority procurement personnel,
specifiers and end-users are also invited to join the trip.
Participants will visit Selva Maya community forest
operations in Guatemala and in the Yucatan Peninsula in
Mexico. All are FSC-certified or in the process of
achieving certification.
The objective of the mission is to assist these forest
operators to break into the international market and for
those already exporting, to broaden their overseas
customer base for their timber and non-timber forest
products.
The organisers of the mission say the Selva Maya
community timber and forestry enterprises primarily trade
in mahogany and cedar but have access to over 100 lesser-
known species. Many of these, they maintain, are
commercially viable, can be sourced sustainably and
should be brought to market to support industry
development. They include Chicozapote, Tzalam, Pucté
and Manchiche.
The trade mission, in bringing together demand-side
companies with the community forest operators, is billed
as a step towards helping overcome these obstacles. And
possibilities for commercialising these lesser-known timer
species will be another focus of the mission programme.
For details contact Carlos Estrada from Rainforest
Alliance (cestrada@ra.org) or Mark van Benthem from
Probos (mark.vanbenthem@probos.nl).
and
See: https://www.probos.nl/evenementen/3777-selva-maya-
tropical-timber-trade-mission-november-2024
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