12 million m³ or 75% of softwood log imports came from New Zealand. China imported almost the same volume from its number one supplier last year. From January to August 2024, a total of 17.4 million m³ of softwood logs were imported into China, with New Zealand accounting for 69% of the total volume.
Softwood log deliveries from Japan totaled 1.2 million m³ in the first eight months, which corresponds to a year-on-year increase of 15%.
Imports from the European Union showed a mixed development: Deliveries from Latvia increased by 67% to 330,300 m³, while those from Germany and Poland more than halved, reaching a total of 301,000 m³ and 283,800 m³, respectively. Imports from Denmark remained stable at last year’s level, i.e. at 123,800 m³.
According to China Customs Statistics, shipments from Germany totaled 300,600 m³ from January to August 2025 and were thus down by 60%, from 747,900 m³ in the same period last year. Destatis reported that 285,000 m³ of German softwood logs were exported to China in the period January to July, a year-on-year decrease of 61%.
Due to the ongoing ban on log exports that was imposed by the Russian government, there have not been any deliveries from Russia to China since 2023. According to China Customs Statistics, imports still amounted to 3.8 million m³ in 2021, but they fell to 93,600 m³ in 2022, as the Datacube timeline shows.
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