US Dollar Exchange Rates of 15th September 2008
China Yuan 6.8487
Report from China
Log imports through Zhangjiagang Port drop in first half 2008
Due to the effects of tightening financial policies,
restriction on wood products exports and increased cost of
labor and sea transport, Zhangjiagang Port is facing a
series of difficulties with timber imports. The problems
include: falling imports, overstocking of goods and weak
export markets.
Local customs agencies at Zhangjiangang Port noted that
the overall import volume dropped by 10% in the January
to June 2008 period. A total of 1.642 million m3 of logs
valued at USD410 million were imported from January to
June 2008, down 12.7% and 14.1% respectively from the
same period of 2007. PNG, Gabon and the Solomon
Islands were the top three sources supplying logs to the
Port. A total of 665,000 m3 were imported from PNG, up
32.7% from 2007. Log imports from Gabon amounted to
495,000 m3 and Solomon Islands’ log imports were
137,000 m3, down 22.2% and up 8.4%, respectively.
Figure 1: Tropical log imports through Zhangjiangang Port, January to
July 2007-2008
The Oceania region was the main source for logs to the
Port, with log imports from this region amounting to
803,000 m3, representing 48.9% of total imports to the
port, a total increase of 27.8% over the previous year.
Logs from this destination were mainly used for plywood,
with a small proportion being used for furniture and
flooring. The main species were bintangor, pometia,
terminalia and malas.
Imports of African logs dropped while Southeast Asian
log imports rose. A total of 659,000 m3 of logs were
imported from Africa, down 39.7% from 2007 and
accounting for 40% of total imports to the port. African
logs were mainly from Gabon, Equatorial Guinea and
Cameroon and used for plywood, furniture and flooring.
However, since log quotas in these countries have limited
log exports, African log imports through the Port have
been reduced.
Figure 2: Proportion of African countries’ log exports to Zhangjiangang
Port from January to June 2008
In contrast, imports from Southeast Asia through the Port
rose considerably. A total of 165,000 m3 of logs were
imported during the first half of 2008, 38.2% more than
over the previous year. However, only 100,000 m3 were
from Malaysia, an 18.7% drop from previous years, while
imports from Myanmar reached 63,000 m3, a 100%
increase from 2007. Imports of coniferous logs dropped,
with only 1,000 m3 of pine logs being imported from
Russia during the January to July period, down 30% from
the same period in 2007.
Imports of logs in containers rose considerably. A total of
100,000 m3 of imported logs were transported in
containers during the first half of this year, rising 95.5%
over the last year. Logs were mainly in large diameter and
from West Africa, up almost 7 times the volume of last
year. Cameroon exported 48,000 m3 and the Republic of
Congo 15,000 m3. The Port was also overstocked and
importers suffered hefty losses.
Shift in balance of China’s woodchip trade
China moved from being a net exporter to a net importer
of woodchips during the first half of 2008. Customs
statistics show a 25% rise in woodchip imports in the first
half of 2008, while the import value rose about 60% over
the same period in 2007. A total of 569,300 tons of wood
chips valued at USD96.8 million were imported during the
first half of 2008, compared to exports of 42,000 tons
valued at USD5.1 million.
The government also developed a series of policies to
prohibit or restrict the export of high resource consuming
products, which have in part caused the decline in exports
and a higher reliance on imports.
Exports of wooden doors show initial gains
According to Mr. Wang Yonglin, Secretary General of the
Wooden Door Committee of the Chinese Timber
Distribution Association, the export value of wooden
doors was USD557 million in 2007, less than 10% of the
production value. Exports have increased considerably in
recent years both by volume and value. For instance,
exports in 2004 rose 27% by volume and 33.9% by value
when compared to 2003 exports; exports in 2005 increased
over 35% both by volume and value from 2004; exports in
2006 grew 33.5% by volume and 41.6% by value; the
growth slowed down in 2007 to 6.7% by volume and
12.8% by value.
Most of the exports were concentrated on the US,
importing 104,400 tons of wood doors from China in
2007. Japan imported 51,500 tons of China’s wood doors
in the same year. The exports to these two countries
accounted for 50% of China’s total exports. Unit values
were going up steadily, increasing from USD1,350/t in
2004 to USD1,650/t in 2007.
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