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The latest European import data shows that the dramatic fall in EU tropical hardwood imports which began at the start of 2008, continued into the second quarter of 2009. Between January and June this year, European imports of tropical hardwood logs, sawn lumber, veneer and plywood were down 41%, 45%, 39% and 46% respectively compared to the same period in 2008. European import volumes of these commodities in 2009 are a small fraction of those of only two years earlier. While it is easy to explain falling imports as a response to the global economic downturn, such has been the depth of the decline that serious issues are raised about the extent to which it might drive long-term structural changes in the European wood industry that may be generally detrimental to future prospects for tropical hardwood.
Import downturn continues into the second quarter
The following shows that total EU-25 imports of logs, plywood, rough sawn lumber and veneers from developing countries suffered further falls in the April-June period of this year. The fall itropical hardwood log imports has been particularly dramatic. Total EU-25 imports of these commodity products were only 109,000 cu.m during the three month period compared to over 600,000 cu.m during the same period in 2007.
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| Source: ITTO (TTM-Report) |
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