From January to July, China imported 15.3 million m³ of softwood logs, a 10% decrease compared to the same period last year.
New Zealand supplied more than two-thirds of these imports, totaling 10.6 million m³, a 4% increase from the previous year. China also imported 863,000 m³ of softwood from Japan, marking a 12% increase over 2023. Additionally, imports from Canada rose by 9% to 614,000 m³, from South Africa by 93% to 224,000 m³, and from Latvia by 7% to 171,000 m³ compared to last year.
Supply volumes from Australia halted after an import ban imposed at the end of 2020 due to bark beetle outbreaks in Australian pine plantations. This year, China imported 302,000 m³ from Australia. However, this is still well below the export levels prior to the ban. From 2017 to 2020, Australia exported an average of 2.2 million m³ per year to China, according to China Customs data.
During the period under review, China imported 677,000 m³ of coniferous logs from Germany, a decrease of 1.7 million m³ compared to the same period last year. Imports of softwood logs from Poland also declined by 21% to 552,000 m³, and from France by 41% to 144,000 m³ compared to 2023.
The European share of coniferous log imports to China halved to 12% compared to the previous year. In 2020 and 2021, when Germany and the Czech Republic exported large volumes of damaged timber to China, Europe’s share of Chinese softwood log imports was 32% and 33%, respectively.
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