U.S. imports of Brazilian hardwoods were up 45% in November compared to the previous month. Species in demand were mainly Jatoba and Virola.
Tropical sawn wood imports from most other suppliers were down in November. Malaysian shipments to the U.S. fell by almost half, but year-to-date imports were higher than last year. The U.S. imported 1,039m3 of Keruing sawn wood in November. Ecuador, Peru, Ghana and Cote d’Ivoire exported less sawn wood as of November 2015 compared to a year earlier.
Between October and November 2015, U.S. imports of all sawn hardwood fell 31%. October import volumes were over 100,000m3 but fell to 72,063m3 in November. Tropical hardwoods declined by 16% to 18,023m3 but year-to-date figures were still 11% higher than in November 2014. Other species such as Sapelli, Mahogany, Acajou d’Afrique and Keruing were significantly up despite the decline. Balsa was the only major species for which a year-to-date decline in imports was registered. Ipe imports dropped 5% compared to the same period last year.
Source: ITTO/ Edited by Panels & Furniture Asia
