Less than 24 hours after Democratic presumptive nominee Kamala Harris announced Tim Walz as her running mate, the United States’ reliance on Russian plywood remains one of the Biden-Harris Ukraine blindspots, with American support for Ukraine set to shape the presidential election.
It comes as Wood Central can reveal that Russian plywood imports into the United States jumped 32% to 17,400 cubic metres for June 2024—with more than 100,000 cubic metres of Russian plywood imported through America’s port system for the first six months of 2024 alone.
Behind Brazil, Vietnam (America’s fastest-growing import market), Indonesia, Canada, Spain, and Chile, timber importers are turning to Russia to make up shortfalls from China after the Department of Commerce introduced import tariffs, causing prices to spike 85%.
Vice President Harris has been vocal in voicing her support for Ukraine, telling NBC News last year: “I know the American people feel a sense of moral outrage and a sense of responsibility for our nation to stand with the Ukrainian people around these atrocities.”
She also reiterated her support at this year’s Munich Security Conference, telling the conference America was committed to “defend the basic principles of sovereignty and territorial integrity and to stop an imperialist authoritarian from subjugating a free and democratic people”.
“You have made clear that Europe will stand with Ukraine, and I will make clear President Joe Biden and I stand with Ukraine.”
Democratic presumptive nominee Kamala Harris on extending support to Ukraine post the 2024 presidential election.
How America’s timber demand is fueling the war in Ukraine
In April, Wood Central reported that timber accounts for more than 50% of Russian products entering the US, leading ENGOs to speculate that the US reliance on lumber could inadvertently fuel the conflict.
At the time, they said that the Russian military “directly controls an area of forest twice the size of New Jersey,” with the army profiting from the sale of timber transported from Russia through Eurasia.
The United States doubles plywood imports from Vietnam.
In addition, the US is relying on Vietnam (and Chinese traders using Vietnamese seaports) for plywood, with more than 405,000 cubic metres of plywood traded into America from Vietnam—or 18% of total imports.
According to the US Department of Agriculture, “This increase represents a doubling, with imports rising by 108% compared to the same period last year,” adding that “the total value of these imports surged by 58% to $249 million.”
The rise in Vietnamese and Russian imports comes as China’s plywood exports sank by 16% to 120,000 cubic metres – with the world’s largest plywood manufacturer (responsible for 70% of total plywood produced) dropping out of the top 5 importers into the United States.
Plywood imports topped 2.25 million cubic metres for the first six months.
Among the different types of wood species imported, “hardwood dominated with 54% of total plywood supplies, amounting to 1,205 million cubic metres,” according to figures provided to Wood Central: “Softwood accounted for 40% of imports, totalling 888,000 cubic metres,” while tropical plywood comprised 6% of imports, reaching 129 thousand cubic metres.
Within the hardwood category, “birch plywood was the most significant, representing 65% of hardwood imports at 781,000 cubic metres, whilst walnut plywood, though a small segment, totalled 6,000 cubic metres, with a high average price of $1,583 per cubic metre.”
- To learn more about the global plywood market and its challenges, click on Wood Central’s special feature.
