Softwood lumber imports across the world’s 10 largest markets by volume contracted sharply between January and March, led by a 1.94 million cubic metre fall in the United States, a 1.19 million cubic metre fall in Germany, and a 775,000 cubic metre fall in China. Combined imports into those markets dropped 3.9 million cubic metres to 12.6 million cubic metres over the quarter, according to new data aggregated by Lesprom Analytics.
The US is the epicentre.
In the United States, the decline came as steep import duties on Canadian softwood restrained shipments and a soft homebuilding market — where new home sales remain weak, and prices stay elevated — kept demand subdued. Canada posted the single largest supplier fall of the quarter at 1.52 million cubic metres, a squeeze felt acutely after Canfor booked a CAD $72.5 million Q1 loss under an effective duty burden near 35 per cent.
“The first quarter of 2026 continued to reflect challenging market conditions across our global operations,” Canfor President and Chief Executive Susan Yurkovich told shareholders. Russia logged the second-largest supplier fall of the period at 743,000 cubic metres, with Austria third at 680,000 cubic metres.
In Germany, the deck is reshuffling.
As construction activity stayed weak, Germany recorded the second-largest market contraction, with imports down 1.19 million cubic metres. Inside that shrinking market, the supplier order turned over hard, with Austria shedding 27.7 percentage points of share, Sweden 19.9 percentage points, and Finland 12.8 percentage points.
Filling the gap, Latvia gained 10.1 percentage points, Canada 4.6 percentage points, and Brazil 1.2 percentage points as buyers rebalanced toward lower-cost and closer supply. China rounded out the three largest market declines, with construction demand staying weak across the quarter.
With the United States, Germany and China together driving the bulk of the 3.9 million cubic metre slide, and Belarus the only notable mover the other way at 15,700 cubic metres, the quarter sets a soft baseline for the major buyers heading into the northern building season.
