Tropical-sawn wood imports to the EU27 fell by 20% to 350,000 m³ in H1 2024, with the total value falling 21% to $322.5 million compared to the same period in 2023.
Imports from major suppliers like Cameroon (down 15% to 132,100 m³), Gabon (down 31% to 50,800 m³), Brazil (down 22% to 45,000 m³), and Malaysia (down 1% to 33,400 m³) decreased during this time.
Other countries also saw significant declines: Ghana’s imports fell 34% to 7,600 m³, Ivory Coast dropped 30% to 4,400 m³, Suriname declined 43% to 3,300 m³, and the Central African Republic saw a 54% drop to 3,100 m³.
Imports from Ecuador were an exception, rising 57% to 11,000 m³.
Tropical moldings and decking imports into the EU27 dropped 16% to 63,300 tonnes in the first six months of 2024, with the total value down 24% to $110.6 million.
While imports from Peru increased by 4% to 6,900 tonnes, they dropped from Brazil (down 21% to 22,400 tonnes), Indonesia (down 4% to 19,200 tonnes), Gabon (down 37% to 4,300 tonnes), Malaysia (down 16% to 2,800 tonnes), and Bolivia (down 28% to 2,500 tonnes).
The EU27’s tropical log imports decreased by 63% to 20,000 m³, with a value of $18.3 million, mainly due to a 91% reduction from the Republic of Congo following the country’s log export ban starting January 1, 2023.