Wood Resources International LLC

Timber harvests, wood consumption, log trade and sawlog prices in Central Europe have seen substantial change during the past 10 years with a shift in log production and consumption from western regions to countries in the east.

During the past 7 years, wood costs have been substantially higher for pulp mills in Western US than in the Southern states. Sharply falling wood chip prices in the West during 2012 and 2013 have improved the region's competitiveness.

Major expansion of pulp capacity in China the past five years has resulted in a dramatic increase in the importation of wood chips to supply the new pulp mills. Australia, Indonesia, Thailand and Vietnam are the major suppliers of wood chips.

The global pulp industry has increased its importation of wood chips the past ten years, reaching the second highest import levels on record in 2012, reports WRQ. Japan, China, Finland and Turkey were the largest importing countries last year.

Increased investments in the housing sector resulted in record imports of logs and lumber to China in the 2Q/13, reports the Wood Resource Quarterly.

Prices for wood chips and pulplogs have fallen worldwide the past two years, resulting in lower production costs for the world’s pulp and paper industry, reports the WRQ. Wood fiber price indices down ten percent from their peaks in 2011.

Demand for wood pellets in Europe has gone up dramatically the past few years. Importation of pellets from North America increased over 60% from 2011 to 2012 with the US export volumes more than doubling, reports North American Wood Fiber Review.

Sawlog prices in Europe were generally lower in 2012 than in 2011 because of lower log demand from the sawmilling sector, reports WRQ. Many sawmills on the continent have been forced to reduce production as a result of the weak lumber market.

Chinese demand for lumber and logs has had a resurgence, with importation during the first four months of 2013 being over ten percent higher than the same period in 2012, report the Wood Resource Quarterly.

Seattle, USA. Lumber production in the US and Canada improved during 2012, with total output in 2012 being eight percent and five percent higher, respectively, than in 2011, according to WWPA.