40-month stasis in dollar value of EU tropical wood imports

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While the euro value of tropical wood product imports into the EU increased 20% between mid-2014 and mid-2016, the value reported in US dollars remained almost static.

The 12- month rolling total remained consistent at around US$2.5 billion for a 40-month period between the middle of 2013 and end of 2016.

The US dollar value of EU tropical wood products imports was declining in the first five months of 2017. Much of this decline is attributable to sawn wood, for which the 12-month rolling total fell from US$865 million in December 2016 to US$795 million in May 2017.

This year has seen a significant slowdown in the volume of sawnwood trade between Cameroon and Belgium, which in 2016 overshadowed all other tropical sawnwood trade flows into the EU. In the first five months of 2017, Belgium’s imports of tropical sawnwood were US$88 million, down 22% compared to the same period in 2016. The tropical sawnwood trade in the Netherlands also declined in the first five months of 2017, by 18% to US$57 million. However, after a very slow start to the year, trade was beginning to pick up in the second quarter.

Imports from Malaysia were strengthening during this period, responding to the Dutch government’s decision in January to recognise MTCS certified wood as conformant to national procurement criteria for “sustainable” timber.

Elsewhere in Europe, the US dollar value of direct imports of tropical sawnwood in the first five months of 2017 declined in the UK (-8% to US$32 million), France (-21% to US$31 million), Italy (-33% to US$29 million), Germany (-2% to US$22 million), and Spain (-17% to US$19 million).

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