European imports of tropical timber are in freefall, with the International Tropical Timber Organization (ITTO) reporting that traders from the 27 EU member states took just 726,000 cubic metres of timbers used in flooring, joinery, mouldings and furniture last year —the lowest levels recorded by the ITTO.
“In 2024, the EU27 cut its imports of tropical sawn wood by 14%… which marks only the second time in history that EU imports of tropical sawn wood have fallen below 800,000 cubic metres in a year. The only other instance was in 2020, during the first year of the pandemic, when imports totalled 784,000 cubic metres.”
The International Tropical Timber Organization’s Tropical Timber Market Report (February 16 to 28, 2025)
Imports declined from most major countries, the ITTO said, with Malaysia (down 7% and responsible for 46% of flooring imports), Cameron (down 16%), Gabon (down 18%), the Republic of the Congo (down 21%), Ghana (down 16%), the Cote d’Ivoire (down 34%), the Democratic Republic of the Congo (down 42%), Suriname (down 20%), Indonesia (down 4%) and Central African Republic (crashing 56%) amongst the hardest hit.
Tropical mouldings also reached a record low – down 3% to 131,300 tonnes in 2024, fuelled by declines in shipments from Brazil (down 9% to 43,900 tonnes), Gabon (down 21% to 8,300 tonnes), offset by increases in shipments from Indonesia (up 10% to 45,000 tonnes), Peru (up 16% to 11,900 tonnes) and Malaysia (up 3% to 6,500 tonnes).
“On tropical logs, EU27% imports plunged by more than 60% in volume to 37,000 tonnes,” the ITTO said. “The decline was mainly due to policy measures in Central Africa aimed at curtailing log exports…log exports from the Central African Republic fell by 34% to 10,500 cubic metres, from the Democratic Republic of the Congo slipped by 39% to 6,200 cubic metres, from Cameron dropped 40% to 5,800 cubic metres and from the Republic of Congo plummeting by 90% to 4,600 cubic metres.”
Tropical Timber is sailing into EUDR headwinds.
In November, Wood Central reported that confusion around the European Union’s deforestation regulation (EUDR)—now delayed until December 2025—had an enormous impact on tropical timber trade.
“While we acknowledge that the ITTO is not able to impact either the regulation, we would be remiss if we did not highlight this issue, given the seismic impacts the EUDR (EU Regulation on Deforestation-free products) has and will have on the global forestry policy and trade,” according to Barney Chan, c0-chair of the ITTO Trade Advisory Group (known as TAG).
“Wood product manufacturers everywhere are reeling from skyrocketing shipping costs and irregular shipping schedules due to, firstly, the drought in Panama severely curtailing ship passages through the Canal and secondly, the ongoing conflicts in the Red Sea,” Chan said.
Shipping costs are also squeezing trade.
According to Chan, exporters in many producer countries are unhappy that shipping companies continue using the fallout from the COVID-19 pandemic and geopolitical conflicts to increase freight and other costs.
Before these recent increases, freight charges from Southeast Asia to the US or EU were around US $2000 per 40-ft container. In the post-COVID pandemic, freight charges soared between US $18,000 and $20,000, and now, because of the war in Ukraine and the Red Sea chaos, freight charges to US and EU markets vary between US $8000 and $10,000.
“Ultimately, these costs will not only depress trade but be passed along to the consumer at a time when price consciousness is an increasing barrier to the use of wood,” Mr Chan said.
- To learn more about the reasons behind the slowdown in tropical timber imports, click here for Wood Central’s special feature from November 2024.
