The Chinese market is increasingly giving sawmills a headache, especially when it comes to non-edge trimmed beech lumber. Suppliers of this product were already unable to benefit from growing imports into China in the first half of the year. According to the Chinese customs authorities, imports increased by 28% year on year, with edge trimmed beech lumber being the biggest factor in the increase.
Short-lived recovery of Chinese demand
Exporters report that the number of inquiries from China fell sharply in July. In some cases, no inquiries were received at all. In May and June, there were was still some active interest from Chinese importers. However, this led to orders is only a few cases. At that time, Chinese importers were primarily looking for cheaper offers to offset the unfavorable effect of the exchange rate on resales.
German beech sawmills are still unwilling to make ex-works price concessions. Inventories of non-edge trimmed beech lumber remain low despite sluggish sales, which is due to reduced log purchases in the 2024/25 hardwood season. As a result, smaller volumes of beech lumber have been produced, especially by medium-sized companies. B/C grades are the only ones to experience pressure on sales and prices because there has been little demand for those qualities for some time.
Due to weak demand in China, Central European sawmills expect increasing competition from Southeast Europe, as companies based there are willing to offer bigger discounts.
India: Demand for low-price goods
India is frequently mentioned as an alternative sales market with a solid interest in beech lumber. However, price estimates vary greatly: Timber traders consider a maximum of €300/m³ cfr to be feasible, even for 50-mm, kiln-dried and slightly steamed A/B grades, whereas sawmills which export their goods directly to India sometimes achieve prices of over €400/m³.
As for B/C grades, on the other hand, India is only a limited sales market. With prices ranging from €260 to €280/m³ cfr and transport costs being higher than those for shipments to China, sales hardly pay off. This is especially the case when deliveries are made via trading companies rather than directly.
Price lists unchanged
According to price lists, selling prices for edge-trimmed beech lumber remained unchanged, at least for the main product ranges. Prices for some less popular specifications were raised in July. The price increases announced a few months ago for customers in the US and Mexico due to exchange rate developments were also accepted.
