As figures from China Custom Statistics show, Chinese imports have been decreasing year after year since the record year of 2019 (26.14 million m³). In 2023, however, there was an inversion of trend which was primarily the result of increases in shipments coming from Europe.
In 2023, China bought around 3.6 million m³ of softwood lumber from Europe, i.e. 500,000 m³ more than in 2022. Thus, China already satisfies around 13% of its demand for imports through shipments from Europe.
Both Russia (11.9 million m³) and Canada (1.27 million m³) shipped constant volumes to China last year. Behind them, Belarus is in third place of the country’s most important softwood lumber suppliers. This is possible thanks to a significant 44% increase which brings the total to 900,000 m³.
While there was little change in imports from Finland (875,000 m³; -1%), Swedish (810,000 m³; +23%) and German manufacturers (720,000 m³; +27%) were able to sell significantly more softwood lumber to China in 2023.
Austria, on the other hand, has relatively little significance for China. In 2023, import volumes fell by 19% to 57,000 m³.
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