Canada’s imports of tropical sawn wood rose in 2016 despite a fall in year-end imports.
2016 imports reached US$20.4 million, up 13 percent from 2015.
Imports of virola, imbuia and balsa grew 31 percent in 2016 to US$5.3 million. The majority of this growth was in higher balsa sawn wood imports.
Sapelli sawn wood imports declined 10 percent in 2016 but at US$4.3 million sapelli still represented a significant portion of tropical imports. Imports of mahogany sawn wood grew 5% to just under US$0.7 million.
Most exporters of tropical sawn wood to Canada increased shipments in 2016 with the exception of Congo, Ghana and Bolivia. Lower sapelli imports in particular affected imports from Africa.
The strongest growth from 2015 was in imports via the US, which increased 73 percent to US$1.7 million in 2016.
Source: ITTO
