global trade

Germany is gaining ground globally

Article by Gerd Ebner (translated by Eva Guzely) | 18.06.2020 - 10:22

In the ranking of the biggest softwood sawn timber exporting countries there is a marked change: Germany overtook Finland and is now in fourth place. At the end of the first quarter 2020, Canada, Russia and Sweden are again on the podium of the biggest exporting countries.

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Germany made up one place partly thanks to overseas exports which are still strong. In the first quarter, the United States received 53% more softwood sawn timber from Germany. With a total of 412,000 m³, the trade flow from Germany across the Atlantic is the seventh biggest in the world. In the full year 2019, it was only the twelfth biggest.

With 2.3 million m³, Germany saw its foreign sales grow by 2% compared to the first quarter of 2019. Since Finland was still massively affected by strikes in the timber industry in the first quarter 2020, the country lost one place in the export ranking for the first time in a long while.

Austria remained export nation number 6 in the first quarter. However, bilateral trade with Italy has become “only” the sixth biggest in the world. For years, business with Italy was the third biggest trade flow in the world.

Global foreign trade | Q1 2020
On the right: 15 biggest importing countries		Overall result	USA	China	Japan	Great Britain	Italy	Germany	Egypt	Netherlands	France	Uzbekistan	Austria	Belgium	Saudi Arabia	South Korea	Mexico	Other countries	Levant region
Table of softwood sawn timber trade flows from the 15 biggest exporting countries to the 15 biggest importing countries as well as to the Levant region (volumes in 1,000 m³). National statistics on sawn timber exports in 2020 were used as sources (as of June 2020).
Below: 15 biggest exporting countries		Overall result	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	Other countries	Levant region
1	Canada	8,418	7,154	652	321	9	1	2	0	6	3	0	0	6	16	32	19	197	24
2	Russia	6,696	10	3,700	278	66	30	132	187	77	54	624	39	33	10	79	0	1,375	290
3	Sweden	3,735	239	260	225	653	17	234	406	283	109	0	10	96	77	31	0	1,094	809
4	Germany	2,317	412	214	27	118	132	–	0	202	191	0	213	195	28	47	1	536	147
5	Finland	1,781	14	278	172	147	30	102	242	48	86	0	39	19	110	6	0	488	587
6	Austria	1,476	54	25	59	6	618	243	2	1	16	0	–	1	65	15	0	371	249
7	Belarus	995	0	92	2	0	15	125	0	57	4	7	1	51	0	0	0	640	10
8	Czech Republic	764	23	11	81	10	217	115	0	4	1	0	132	1	2	3	0	164	4
9	USA	733	–	0	0	0	3	0	8	4	2	0	0	1	0	0	167	547	14
10	Chile	732	33	171	57	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	55	97	73	246	89
11	Ukraine	670	1	208	5	0	47	29	0	13	0	0	1	8	1	9	0	347	30
12	Latvia	664	14	42	28	222	4	34	31	36	23	0	5	10	2	47	0	168	52
13	Belgium	613	1	69	0	8	0	80	7	75	253	0	1	–	1	0	0	117	24
14	Brazil	553	180	72	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	37	6	113	143	69
15	New Zealand	405	52	111	13	0	0	0	0	12	0	0	0	1	11	20	1	184	14
	Total	30,552	8,188	5,905	1,269	1,241	1,117	1,096	884	818	743	631	443	422	416	390	374	6,617	2,410

Sources: CA: Statistics Canada, RU: Federal Customs Service, SE: Statistics Sweden, FI: Finnish Customs, DE: Destatis, AT: Statistik Austria, CZ: Czech Statistical Office, BY: National Statistical Committee of the Republic of Belarus (Belstat), BE: Eurostat, BR: Comex Stat – MDIC – conversion of kg into m3, conversion factor 550 (product groups 440711, 440719), CL: Ministry of Agriculture (MINAGRI – Chile), US: United States Department of Agriculture, LV: Central Statistical Bureau of Latvia, UA: State Statistics Service of Ukraine (Ukrstat), NZ: Statistics New Zealand | © www.holzkurier.com

Canada with major losses in China, US with substantial gains

The biggest decrease in first quarter global trade was recorded between Canada and China. Instead of 1.5 million m³, Canada only exported 650,000 m³ to China so far. This year, China bought considerably more softwood sawn timber from the US (+386% in the first four months), Sweden (+66% in the same period) and Germany (+52% in the first four months). Together with Canada, Russia (-17%) and Finland (-11%) are currently the losers on the Chinese market.

Global softwood sawn timber flows | Q1 2020
N.	Exporter	Importer	1 – 3 2019	1 – 3 2020	Diff. in %
Trade flows incl. planed timber in 1,000 m³
1	Canada	USA	7,006	7,154	2
2	Russia	China	4,276	3,700	–13
3	Sweden	Great Britain	685	653	–5
4	Canada	China	1,476	652	–56
5	Russia	Uzbekistan	538	624	16
6	Austria	Italy	684	618	–10
7	Germany	USA	269	412	53
8	Sweden	Egypt	366	406	11
9	Canada	Japan	448	321	–28
10	Russia	Kazakhstan	108	288	167
11	Sweden	Netherlands	224	283	26
12	Finland	China	328	278	–15
13	Russia	Japan	239	278	16
14	Sweden	China	163	260	59
15	Belgium	France	301	253	–16
16	Belarus	Lithuania	196	248	27
17	Russia	Azerbaijan	191	245	28
18	Sweden	Denmark	210	243	16
19	Austria	Germany	249	243	–3
20	Finland	Egypt	462	242	–48

Sources: CA: Statistics Canada, RU: Federal Customs Service, SE: Statistics Sweden, FI: Finnish Customs, DE: Destatis, AT: Statistik Austria, CZ: Czech Statistical Office, BY: National Statistical Committee of the Republic of Belarus (Belstat), BE: Eurostat, BR: Comex Stat – MDIC – conversion of kg into m3, conversion factor 550 (product groups 440711, 440719), CL: Ministry of Agriculture (MINAGRI – Chile), US: United States Department of Agriculture, LV: Central Statistical Bureau of Latvia, UA: State Statistics Service of Ukraine (Ukrstat), NZ: Statistics New Zealand | © www.holzkurier.com

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