India is still one of the world’s hottest import markets, with large timber shipments from Malaysia, Germany, Ukraine, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, the United States, Uruguay, and Bhutan.
In the past, Wood Central has reported that the Kingdom of Bhutan sought to establish closer economic ties with the superpower through its new megacity – Gelephu – on India’s doorstep. That includes growing its timber trade, which has shipped more than 50,000 cubic feet of timber through the kingdom-owned Natural Resource Development Corporation over the last three months alone.
It comes after the Kingdom established Bhutan’s first “scientific thinning programme” in 2023 – setting a highly ambitious target of more than 10.7 million cubic feet of timber for annual export from 2024 to 2026. That same year, it also set a five-year goal to generate Nu 10 billion in export revenue to boost foreign exchange.
Wood Central understands that exports vary, with teak—often used in boat building and high-end furniture—walnut and sal amongst the most popular species. The kingdom-owned Bhutan Trade Statistics Agency revealed that wood and wood-based product imports generated more than Nu 3.56 billion in 2023, down from Nu 4.28 billion in 2022, while exports increased to Nu 263.29 million from Nu 217.87 million.
Exporters are looking at India as a pivot from a soft China.
It comes as more and more countries are eying India as a hedge against a slowing Chinese market. In 2023, Wood Central reported that Indian demand for roundwood could grow by 70%, from 57 million cubic metres in 2020 to 98 million cubic metres in 2030, driven by a surge in construction activity. At the same time, the Indian Centre for Science and Environment reported that the country’s 2022 demand for timber was 63 million cubic metres—30 million cubic metres for domestic production and 33 million cubic metres from imported sources.
At the same time that demand is growing in India, Wood Central last year reported that China—still the world’s largest consumer of forest products—is also pivoting from saw logs to lumber, according to a 196-page report provided by Margules Groome Consulting.
