Geopolitical uncertainty, climbing freight costs, and persistently weak international demand are holding timber markets across Central and West Africa in check, with no visible recovery in sight for European buyers. That is according to the latest edition of the ITTO Market Report, which reviewed market conditions in Gabon, Cameroon, and the Congo.
Overall conditions across the region remain largely unchanged from the previous reporting period. Chinese interest in okoumé has shown modest improvement and represents the most positive signal in the assessment, whilst European markets continue to show no recovery and Middle East demand, though relatively steady, is being further complicated by escalating regional tensions.
Carriers have since announced new freight rate increases that are adding direct cost pressure to an already cautious market, with the coming weeks expected to clarify whether rising logistics burdens will materially reduce export momentum from a region already operating at reduced capacity.
Gabon
In Gabon, the return of Chinese interest for okoumé — reinforced by orders from Middle East buyers — is providing meaningful support to sawmills operating under difficult conditions, representing the most encouraging demand signal across the broader region. Competition from low-priced Brazilian pine, however, continues to undercut African species across the Philippines and the Middle East, limiting the benefit of renewed Chinese engagement and adding competitive pressure to a market already constrained by weak downstream demand.
Electricity supply continues to disrupt production, with persistent outages proceeding despite assurances from authorities that the situation will stabilise. Port operations at Owendo are functioning normally, and container availability remains stable.
Cameroon
In Cameroon, Chinese operators have largely returned to the market and are actively seeking new supply contracts, providing a degree of operational momentum to an otherwise subdued sector and representing the clearest recovery signal across the three markets assessed. The re-engagement follows a period of reduced Chinese activity and arrives at a point where downstream demand remains too weak to justify any meaningful increase in production volume.
Many mills are running on a single shift, with output kept tightly constrained as operators maintain a cautious near-term outlook. Three sawmills in Douala have reportedly closed and are relocating outside the city — a structural realignment that carries near-term implications for domestic production capacity. Container availability across Douala and Kribi is sufficient, and both ports are operating without disruption.
Republic of the Congo
In the Republic of the Congo, the timber sector is continuing to operate under stable conditions, with harvesting proceeding normally across the country’s major production zones and no significant disruptions reported. Road repair works in the Likouala region are improving inland transport, with timber flows increasingly redirected towards the ports of Kribi and Douala rather than Pointe-Noire.
ITTO’s April assessment identified rising freight rates as the most immediate risk to regional export competitiveness, with carriers having already announced new increases that operators across Gabon, Cameroon, and the Republic of the Congo will be required to absorb in an environment where African species are being undercut by low-priced Brazilian pine alternatives across their most active export markets.
