The provisional National Statistics on UK Wood Production and Trade for 2013 also shows the wood-based panel manufacturing industry increased production by 1% on a year ago to 3 million m3.
Softwood roundwood harvesting volumes grew to 10.9 million green tonnes (+8%), while hardwood harvesting decreased 1% to 500,000 green tonnes. Some 400,000 green tonnes of softwood was removed under licence in areas with diseased trees.
A total of 11 million green tonnes of roundwood (softwood and hardwood) was delivered to wood processors and others.
Sawmills took 6.4 million green tonnes of this volume (+5%), while the wood-based panel manufacturing industry took 1.3 million green tonnes (-1%).
The statistics also give import figures, with sawn timber imports up 6% to 5.5 million m3 and wood-based panel imports up 12% to 3 million m3. Wood pellet imports rocketed 128% to 5 million m3 as biomass energy expanded.
The total value of wood product imports was £6.7bn (+5%), though the majority of this (£4.2bn) was pulp and paper (-2%).
Meanwhile, the Forestry Commission’s latest timber price indices, based on timber sales by the commission and Natural Resources Wales show a 13.5% growth (in real terms) in the coniferous standing sales price index for the year to March 2014.
The softwood sawlog price index was 16% higher in real terms in the six months to March 2014, compared with the same period from the previous year.
