Imports, exports & apparent consumption of wood products
This section contains information about international trade in wood products, and about the level of apparent consumption estimated from data for trade and UK production.
A large proportion of the wood and wood products consumed in the United Kingdom are imported from a range of different countries.
Information on imports and exports comes from the Overseas Trade Statistics compiled by HM Revenue & Customs. The two sources are surveys of European Union (EU) internal trade (Intrastat) and customs data for trade with non-EU countries.
Quantities are given as wood raw material equivalent underbark, that is the amount of timber (underbark) required to produce these products. The factors used for this chapter differ from those in the section on Conversion factors.
Apparent consumption is the amount of timber (measured as raw wood material equivalent underbark) used as wood and wood products by people and industries in the United Kingdom. It is calculated as total United Kingdom production plus imports, minus exports. This total does not include any allowance for recycled wood and paper that is recovered for use within the United Kingdom, but is reduced by the substantial net exports of recovered paper (see Table 3.3). Apparent consumption also differs from actual consumption by the extent of changes in the level of stocks. It is not practical to collect information on actual consumption.
UK production of roundwood totalled 8.6 million m3 WRME underbark in 2005. A further 52.5 million m3 WRME underbark of wood and wood products were imported to the UK and 16.5 million m3 WRME underbark were exported, giving apparent consumption of 44.7 million m3 WRME underbark.
| million m3 WRME underbark | ||||
| Year | UK production1 |
Imports |
Exports |
Apparent Consumption |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1996 | 7.5 | 45.1 | 5.4 | 47.2 |
| 1997 | 7.8 | 47.7 | 6.8 | 48.8 |
| 1998 | 7.6 | 46.8 | 7.0 | 47.4 |
| 1999 | 7.8 | 45.8 | 7.3 | 46.3 |
| 2000 | 7.8 | 47.8 | 7.4 | 48.2 |
| 2001 | 7.9 | 49.4 | 7.9 | 49.5 |
| 2002 | 7.8 | 48.8 | 9.3 | 47.3 |
| 2003 | 8.1 | 49.5 | 12.7 | 44.9 |
| 2004 | 8.3 | 52.0 | 15.6 | 44.7 |
| 2005 | 8.6 | 52.5 | 16.5 | 44.7 |
Source: UK Overseas Trade Statistics and conversion factors to WRME.
- UK production of roundwood is estimated from deliveries to wood processing industries, as in Table 2.3
UK production accounted for around one quarter of the UK sawnwood market, and around one half of the UK woodbased panel and paper markets.
| Product | Unit |
UK production |
Imports |
Exports |
Apparent Consumption |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sawnwood | 1000 m3 | 2 862 | 8 227 | 434 | 10 655 |
| Coniferous | 2 808 | 7 559 | 412 | 9 955 | |
| Non-coniferous | 54 | 668 | 21 | 700 | |
| Woodbased panels | 1000 m3 | 3 398 | 3 531 | 520 | 6 409 |
| Veneer sheets | 0 | 33 | 5 | 29 | |
| Plywood | 0 | 1 417 | 115 | 1 302 | |
| Particleboard | 2 557 | 1 138 | 183 | 3 513 | |
| Fibreboard | 841 | 942 | 217 | 1 566 | |
| Paper & paperboard | 1000 mt | 6 033 | 7 265 | 1 495 | 11 803 |
| Newsprint | 1 136 | 1 427 | 165 | 2 399 | |
| Other graphic papers | 1 518 | 3 705 | 541 | 4 681 | |
| Sanitary and household papers | 795 | 168 | 35 | 928 | |
| Packaging materials | 1 989 | 1 900 | 724 | 3 164 | |
| Other paper & paperboard | 595 | 66 | 30 | 631 |
Source: UK Overseas Trade Statistics and UK Timber Statistics 2006.
- Excludes other wood products, e.g. wood fuel and round fencing.
- Excludes roundwood and intermediate products (e.g. pulp and sawmill products), to avoid double counting.
'Wood and wood products' in Table 3.3 make up most of the following divisions of the Standard International Trade Classification (SITC).
- 24 (cork and wood)
- 25 (pulp and waste paper)
- 63 (cork and wood manufacturers (excluding furniture))
- 64 (paper, paperboard, and articles of paper pulp, of paper or of paperboard)
Around one third of the wood products imported to the UK in 2005 were imported as softwood (round and sawn). A further one third were imported as paper, 15% were imported as woodbased panels and 13% as pulp. Paper (20%) and recovered paper (57%) accounted for the majority of exports of wood products from the UK in 2005.
| thousand m3 WRME underbark | |||||||
Wood (round and sawn) |
Paper and paperboard |
Total wood and wood products |
|||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Softwood | Hardwood | Wood-based panels | Paper | Pulp | Recovered Paper | ||
| Imports | |||||||
| 1996 | 13 335 | 1 659 | 5 372 | 16 564 | 7 929 | 250 | 45 107 |
| 1997 | 13 977 | 1 614 | 5 970 | 17 803 | 8 171 | 211 | 47 746 |
| 1998 | 14 070 | 1 514 | 6 312 | 17 244 | 7 542 | 161 | 46 843 |
| 1999 | 13 479 | 1 417 | 6 369 | 16 992 | 7 370 | 171 | 45 797 |
| 2000 | 14 934 | 1 738 | 7 000 | 16 068 | 7 706 | 382 | 47 829 |
| 2001 | 15 028 | 1 844 | 7 294 | 18 211 | 6 928 | 141 | 49 446 |
| 2002 | 15 991 | 2 007 | 8 207 | 15 410 | 6 950 | 212 | 48 778 |
| 2003 | 17 212 | 2 428 | 7 965 | 15 101 | 6 512 | 280 | 49 499 |
| 2004 | 16 154 | 2 291 | 8 045 | 18 435 | 6 879 | 242 | 52 047 |
| 2005 | 17 860 | 2 127 | 7 720 | 17 645 | 6 978 | 218 | 52 549 |
| Exports | |||||||
| 1996 | 201 | 82 | 756 | 3 407 | 55 | 912 | 5 414 |
| 1997 | 203 | 93 | 985 | 4 193 | 22 | 1 341 | 6 838 |
| 1998 | 300 | 367 | 956 | 4 004 | 98 | 1 240 | 6 964 |
| 1999 | 379 | 183 | 1 328 | 4 001 | 123 | 1 265 | 7 278 |
| 2000 | 474 | 261 | 1 180 | 3 834 | 32 | 1 653 | 7 434 |
| 2001 | 863 | 201 | 1 425 | 3 494 | 12 | 1 944 | 7 939 |
| 2002 | 914 | 163 | 1 507 | 3 339 | 22 | 3 435 | 9 381 |
| 2003 | 1 307 | 444 | 1 874 | 3 645 | 8 | 5 615 | 12 893 |
| 2004 | 1 613 | 294 | 1 536 | 3 765 | 10 | 8 690 | 15 907 |
| 2005 | 1 787 | 317 | 1 625 | 3 318 | 20 | 9 341 | 16 409 |
Source: UK Overseas Trade Statistics and conversion factors to WRME.
- Figures for 2001 to 2004 softwood exports have been revised from Forestry Statistics 2005 to reflect revisions to export data.
In table 3.4 'associated products' are made up of the following SITC sub divisions which are excluded from wood and wood products in Table 3.3;
- 244 (cork, natural, raw and waste (including natural cork in blocks or sheets))
- 251.92 (pulps of other fibrous cellulosic material)
- 633 (cork manufacturers)
- 641.7 (paper, paperboard, cellulose wadding/webs of fibre, coated, impregnated, painted etc, excluding group 892, in rolls or sheets, not elsewhere specified)
- 641.9 (converted paper and paperboard not elsewhere specified)
- 642 (paper and paperboard cut to size or shape, and articles of paper or paperboard).
The value of wood and wood product imports (including associated products) in 2005 was £8.7 billion. Exports were valued at £2.7 billion.
| £million | ||||||
Imports |
Exports |
|||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wood and wood products | Associated products | Total (Divs 24,25,63,64) | Wood and wood products | Associated products | Total (Divs 24,25,63,64) | |
| 1999 | 5 549 | 1 753 | 7 303 | 1 198 | 1 215 | 2 414 |
| 2000 | 5 998 | 1 880 | 7 878 | 1 238 | 1 252 | 2 491 |
| 2001 | 6 351 | 1 939 | 8 290 | 1 198 | 1 296 | 2 494 |
| 2002 | 5 718 | 1 949 | 7 667 | 1 145 | 1 267 | 2 412 |
| 2003 | 5 696 | 2 019 | 7 715 | 1 308 | 1 269 | 2 577 |
| 2004 | 6 701 | 2 114 | 8 815 | 1 447 | 1 218 | 2 665 |
| 2005 | 6 542 | 2 172 | 8 714 | 1 441 | 1 309 | 2 750 |
Source: UK Overseas Trade Statistics.
- Figures for 2004 have been revised from Forestry Statistics 2005 to reflect revisions to import and export data.
Sweden, Latvia and Finland provided the majority of imports of sawn softwood to the UK in 2005. Sawn hardwood was most commonly imported from Latvia and the USA. UK imports of plywood commonly came from countries outwith the EU, such as Brazil and China, although of the EU trade, the majority came from Finland. Most particleboard and fibreboard imports came from within the EU. Canada, Brazil, the USA and Sweden were amongst the principal sources of wood pulp for the UK, whilst the majority of paper and paperboard imports originated in Finland, Sweden and Germany.
| % of total UK imports (volume) in each category | |||||||
Sawn softwood |
Sawn hardwood |
Plywood |
Particleboard |
Fibreboard |
Wood pulp |
Paper and paperboard |
|
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sweden | 33 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 13 | 18 |
| Finland | 15 | 1 | 15 | 9 | 2 | 4 | 19 |
| Germany | 3 | 7 | 1 | 31 | 19 | 1 | 17 |
| France | 0 | 7 | 1 | 21 | 6 | 2 | 9 |
| Austria | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 5 |
| Netherlands | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 4 |
| Belgium | 0 | 2 | 1 | 18 | 12 | 0 | 2 |
| Latvia | 19 | 23 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Spain | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 14 | 8 | 2 |
| Irish Republic | 3 | 0 | 0 | 13 | 27 | 4 | 0 |
| Other EU-25 | 9 | 11 | 2 | 3 | 13 | 3 | 6 |
| Total EU-25 | 84 | 56 | 25 | 100 | 95 | 38 | 82 |
| USA | 1 | 14 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 17 | 2 |
| Canada | 1 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 16 | 4 |
| Norway | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 6 |
| Brazil | 0 | 1 | 30 | 0 | 0 | 15 | 1 |
| Russia | 12 | 1 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| China | 0 | 1 | 15 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Other non-EU | 1 | 23 | 24 | 0 | 3 | 10 | 3 |
| Total non-EU | 16 | 44 | 75 | 0 | 5 | 62 | 18 |
Source: FAO and UK Overseas Trade Statistics.
- Categories used above are those used by FAO in 'Forest Products Trade Flow Data', and are not fully consistent with those used in Tables 3.3-3.4.
The UK was the fourth largest net importer of forest products in 2005, behind USA, China1 and Japan.
Figure 3.1 World trade in forest products: largest net importers, 2005
Source: FAO.
- Figure 3.1 presents the 2005 data for all countries except China (for which 2004 data are shown). The full data set for all countries (including China) wll be updated to the FAO website in December 2006.
The largest net exporters of forest products in 2005 were Canada, Finland and Sweden.
Figure 3.2 World trade in forest products: largest net exporters, 2005
Source: FAO.
