American softwood imports from overseas reached record levels in 2005, according to industry newsletter Random Lengths.
The 29% growth last year to 3.1 billion board feet was due largely to a continued rise in shipments from Europe. The previous record of 2.4 billion board feet was set in 2004.
Imports from the 10 largest European supplier countries rose 62% to 2.1 billion board feet, with Germany the biggest shipper, providing 977 million board feet.
Swedish shipments more than doubled, helped by the large timber volumes created by hurricane Gudrun.
Plantation pine suppliers to America saw their shipments decline. Brazilian exports fell 18% to 326 million board feet, leaving Chile the biggest South American softwood shipper to the US with 373 million board feet.
The US managed to increase its offshore exports for the first time since 1999. Shipments to Spain grew by 32%, while Japanese exports soared by 41%.
