The UK's imports in the first quarter of 2024 were down year-on-year and prices for many timber and panel products have stabilised in recent months, Timber Development UK (TDUK) reported.

Import volumes for Q1 2024 were 150,000 m3 lower than they had been in Q1 2023. While January and February’s data remained at similar levels, volumes fell back in March this year resulting in a 6.2% reduction.

Nearly all product types experienced this fall in volume, with only hardwood plywood finishing 1% higher in Q1 2024 compared with Q1 2023.

Despite this most recent fall, changes in import volumes have largely stabilised since the multiple economic shocks since 2020 caused by Brexit, covid and war in Ukraine.

These weaker volumes for the start of the year confirm the general sentiment across the timber trade and wider construction industry. However, numbers for March 2024 are being compared with a near-peak month. March 2023 was the second-best month for import volumes of 2023 –volumes then dropped in eight of the following nine months.

Anecdotal forecast data from the panels sector suggest volumes are expected to improve for the remainder of 2024, which may indicate 2024 ends as a stronger overall year than 2023 for timber sales.

Figures for March 2024 also show import prices for softwood, hardwood and plywood imports have largely stabilised in recent months, TDUK said, returning closer to pre-covid and pre-Brexit levels. During 2023 average monthly imported softwood and hardwood price levels barely changed, though hardwood and softwood plywood prices continued to be more volatile. These, however, also seem to have stabilised significantly at the beginning of 2024, it said.

TDUK head of technical and trade, Nick Boulton, said: “The fall in timber import volumes during Q1 of 2024 are largely in line with the fall in overall construction output data, which was 1.4% down in Q1 2024 over Q1 2023 and 7.5% lower in March 2024 compared with March 2023. This can be attributed to poor UK economic performance and weaker construction outputs, which saw the lowest levels of housebuilding since 2014 (not including the covid-affected year of 2020).

“New housebuilding output in the UK – a significant source of timber usage – has fallen in each month (compared to the same month of the previous year) from February 2023 through to March 2024, with outputs 15% lower compared with March 2023.

“Now, we must look ahead to the post-general election economy and call on the upcoming government to prioritise housebuilding and construction. The construction industry represents around 7% of UK GDP and is often the engine that drives economic recovery across the UK as a whole, but we need investment from government to enable manufacturers and suppliers to plan ahead with any certainty. Timber can play a central role in the UK’s construction and net zero targets, and as an industry we will continue to lobby government to make the most of the opportunities that exist by building more with timber.”

Source: TDUK