Decreasing softwood lumber trade flows

In terms of value, bilateral trade between the two North American countries grew by 2%, reaching a total of just under US-$4 billion. This is due to much higher prices compared to the first half of last year. Germany, Sweden, and Brazil were important trading partners of the USA as well.

Germany shipped 1.06 million m³ to the US, i.e. the same volume as in the first six months of 2024. The value of shipments increased by 17% to US-$341 million. Sweden exported 627,000 m³ (+13%) to the USA, and Brazil 559,000 m³ (+19%). In total, the USA received 16.4 million m³ of softwood lumber in the first half of 2025, that is 5% less than in the same period last year.

China reduced its lumber imports

The second-largest trade flow was the one from Russia to China. At 5.17 million m³ (-10%), Russia accounted for almost two thirds of China’s total softwood lumber imports. In terms of value, trade was down by 12% to US-$1.06 billion. Other important supplier countries were Belarus (512,000 m³; -17%) and Canada (511,000 m³; -27%). In the first half of 2025, China reduced its softwood lumber imports by 17% year on year to 7.39 million m³. For Russia, Uzbekistan was another important foreign market, with a trade volume of 950,000 m³ (+7%).

Sweden with a broad customer base

Looking at the table of the 20 biggest global softwood lumber trade flows, no country is present more often than Sweden. The Scandinavian country was the starting point of six of the 20 largest cumulative lumber shipments. Great Britain was the most important trading partner with 1.45 million m³ (+3%), followed by the US and the Netherlands (585,000 m³; +3%). Egypt (505,000 m³; -22%), Denmark (473,000 m³; +9%), and Japan (414,000 m³; -6%) were important foreign markets, too. In total, Sweden exported 7.04 million m³ of softwood lumber, i.e. 2% more than in the first half of 2024.

Substantial increase for Finland

Finland, the second large Scandinavian exporter of softwood lumber, increased its exports by 21% year on year to 4.76 million m³ in the first six months of 2025. Deliveries to Egypt saw particularly strong growth, being up by nearly 50% and reaching 697,000 m³. The value of this export volume increased by 60% to US-$143 million. Finland also exported 407,000 m³ (+27%) to Estonia and 404,000 m³ (+16%) to Great Britain.

Smaller volumes, higher value

The softwood lumber trade flow from Austria to Italy is in fourth place of the ranking. At 1.37 million m³, the trade volume grew by 3%. In terms of value, an increase of 11% to US-$371 million was recorded.

If the 20 biggest lumber trade flows are added, the total volume decreased by 1.5 million m³ year-on-year to 30.6 million m³ in the first half of 2025. The cumulative value, on the other hand, increased by US-$358 million to US-$8.53 billion.