Indonesia’s plywood exports fell 26 per cent year on year in the first quarter of 2026, as a steep retreat from the United States dragged shipments of the country’s most valuable wood-panel category down to 622,000 cubic metres. That is according to the Indonesian Wood Panel Association, the industry body that compiles the country’s plywood export figures, which valued first-quarter exports at US $325 million, down 27 per cent on the same period a year earlier.
Shipments to the United States fell 60 per cent to 94,000 cubic metres over January to March, with export value down 58 per cent to $58 million, even as the average price rose six per cent to $618 per cubic metre. The collapse stripped the US market of its long-held status as a mainstay for Indonesian mills.
The slump followed twin trade determinations from the US Commerce Department, which set preliminary countervailing duty rates for Indonesian plywood of between two and 129 per cent in January before adding preliminary anti-dumping margins of 20 to 85 per cent in February. US Customs and Border Protection has collected cash deposits on covered imports since the determinations were published.
It comes as the US International Trade Commission has scheduled a final-phase hearing for 16 July, a date that will determine whether the preliminary duties on plywood from Indonesia, China and Vietnam become permanent. A negative finding would remove the cash-deposit regime, whilst an affirmative one would lock the margins in for years.
Japan reclaimed its place as Indonesia’s largest plywood market, with its share rising by 6 percentage points to 28 per cent, even as volumes eased by 4 per cent to 171,000 cubic metres. Export value to Japan slipped four per cent to $106 million, with the average price holding steady at $618 per cubic metre.
South Korea held second place with a 16 per cent share, although shipments there fell 7 per cent to 97,000 cubic metres, and export value dropped 9 per cent to $41 million. The average Korean price eased two per cent to $427 per cubic metre.
Malaysia accounted for 13 per cent of Indonesian plywood supplies, holding volumes flat at 80,000 cubic metres whilst export value edged up three per cent to $30 million. China’s share narrowed to four per cent, with shipments down 10 per cent to 23,000 cubic metres and export value down 19 per cent to $12 million.
Mexico stood out as the rare growth market in an otherwise contracting quarter, with volumes surging 65 per cent to 15,000 cubic metres and export value jumping 82 per cent to $5 million. The gain offered Indonesian mills a slim counterweight to the loss of their American buyers.
