Growth could return to UK timber import volumes if recent steady growth is maintained for the rest of 2009, says a new Timber Trade Federation (TTF) report.
The September “Timber Statistics” report, compiled by Nick Moore of Timbertrends for the TTF, shows that June’s import volume for all timber and wood-based products was just 40,000m³ down on a year ago. At the start of the year the gap was 400,000m³.
Softwood imports for the first half of 2009 were 27.4% down on a year ago at 2.34 million m³, with Sweden accounting for nearly 60% of the volume, compared to 42.1% in 2008.
Hardwood volumes suffered a 25.5% reverse at 168,000m³, with the US remaining top hardwood source with a 24.2% market share.
Plywood products were down 30.2% at 518,000m³, with hardwood ply hit twice as badly as softwood products.
For full report data see www.ttf.co.uk
