Trends of trade and market accessof tropical timber and timber
products
Tetra Yanuariadi
Projects Manager, International Tropical Timber Organization

T2.29 Strengthening Teak Forest Management for Sustainable
Teakwood Supply Chains and Trade
Stockholm, Sweden, 28 June 2024

Outline
The importance of sustaining tropical forest
Trends on tropical timber production, consumption
and trade
Market access and current market requirements
EUDR

Tropical forests—vital for planetary wellbeing•

Forests cover 31% of the planet’s land surface, and areamong the world’s most productive land-based ecosystems:•••••••••

conserve soil and water,
filter the air we breathe, mitigates climate,prevent land degradation and desertification,
host terrestrial biodiversity,
reduce the risk of floods, landslides, droughts and other disasters, amongothers.

Around 1.6 billion people depend on forests for theirsubsistence.
Tropical forests represent 45% of all forests (1.84 billion
has—22% in Latin America, 16% in Africa and 7% in Southand Southeast Asia).
Over 70% of global population in extreme poverty live inthe tropics.
IMF Report (2023) – economic imbalance globally sees 95
million living in acute poverty today.
CRITICAL TO SUPPORT SUSTAINABLE MANAGEMENT OFTROPICAL FORESTS!

Despite their importance deforestation and forest
degradation continue …
••

The world lost an estimated 10 million ha offorest (the size of the Republic of Korea) peryear between 2015 and 2020. In 2023, thetropics lost 3.7 million hectares of primary
forest, the equivalent of losing 10 football
fields per minutes, a rate stubbornly
consistent previous years:
Most deforestation occurs in the tropics:••••

competing land uses that produce higher/more
rapid financial returns (agriculture, energy, mining
and infrastructure)
failure of market policies (don’t reflect the fullvalue of forests)
illegal logging, fragmentation, food security,
woodfuel/energy needs
climate change impacts

Benefits of sustainable tropical forestry•

The sustainable harvesting, processing andtrade of tropical timber and other forest
products:••••

supplies residential and commercial consumers
worldwide,
contributes to local and national economies, andenhances value of tropical forests—a key factor in
reducing forest conversion to other economic landuses.

When sustainably managed, tropical forests
are:
•••

healthy, productive and renewable ecosystems.
contribute to nature-based solutions.
the sustainable management of forests is of criticalimportance to the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable
Development and almost ALL SDGs:

The International Tropical
Timber Organization’s mission••

Promote the sustainable management andconservation of tropical forests.
Promote the expansion and diversificationof trade in tropical wood from sustainably
managed and legally harvested forests.

The International Tropical Timber Organization(ITTO) is THE SOLE inter-governmentalorganization focused entirely on tropical forest
resources.
•76 member countries (37 producers & 39consumers) covering 80% of global tropicalforests and accounting for 90% of trade intropical forest products!

Trends on tropical timber production, consumption andtrade (2000s–2023)• The global financial and economic crisis (2008–2009):– Impacted construction and consumer spending& demand for tropical wood products
particularly in North America and the EU,– growth in consumption and imports of primarywood products in China and India cushioned theimpacts of the crisis for tropical exporters.

•The COVID-19 pandemic (2020–2022):– severe disruptions to production, consumption,transport, shipping, supply chains etc.
•Ongoing global conflicts – strong impact on
production, consumption, supply chains,demand, prices

Tropical roundwood production•

Volume (million m3)

250

200

150

•
10050

•

0Africa

Latin America/Caribbean

Asia-Pacific

Dominated by six countries:• Indonesia (30%),• India (18%),• Viet Nam (12%),• Brazil (11%),• Thailand (4%) and• Malaysia (4%).
Malaysia’s production has declined significantly since
1990, in response to reductions in logging quotas
associated with its SFM policies. In contrast,
production has grown over the period in Indonesia
and Viet Nam.
A major trend has been growth in roundwood
production from plantations in tropical producer
economies and a decline in production from naturalforests.

India: Imports of Teak Log 2015-2019 (m3)
400000350000300000250000200000150000100000

50000

0

Cote
d'Ivoire

Ghana

Benin

Costa Rica Panama

EcuadorBrazilMyanmar

Source: ITTO Timber Trade PortalTropical sawnwood production•

Relatively steady globally between 1990–2000,
fluctuations 2000-2021:• two peaks in 2007 and 2017, at 72.7 million m3,
and 80.8 million m3, before retreating to 71.4
million m3 in 2021,• emergence of China as a major producer (2012)
based on imported tropical logs,• Brazil’s production declined sharply since 2012,and production fluctuated, reduced volumes
from Malaysia and Indonesia from about 1990,• the tropical sawnwood industry is dominated by
SMEs (vulnerable to economic shocks),• Africa is highly export-dependent. Since 2010industry investment has transfer from European
to Asian firms, reflecting an increase in Chinesedemand for hardwood sawnwood from nontraditional sources.

India: Imports of Teak Sawnwood 2015-2021 (m3)
30000

25000

20000

15000

10000

5000

0

Coted'Ivoire

GhanaBenin

Costa
Rica

Panama Ecuador

Brazil Myanmar

Source: ITTO Timber Trade Portal

16

Secondary Processed Wood Products (SPWP)•••

China and Viet Nam have become major tropicalmanufacturing hubs.
Malaysia, Indonesia and Thailand are also important
tropical SPWP producers based on plantation
timbers.
Tropical producer countries are generally
characterized by:• low levels of investment in wood technology,manufacturing, marketing, and research anddevelopment;• limited access to finance, negotiating power,
and ability to respond quickly when markets
recover;• the vulnerability of SMEs in the tropical
producers during global economic shocks.

International trade (tropical industrial roundwood)•Trended downwards since 1990:•••

notable declines in 1997, 2007 and 2020 (globaleconomic shocks),
peaks in 1990, 2000 and 2014 when demand in importmarkets surged.

Major changes in direction of trade:••••

import demand has shifted from traditional markets to
mainly China and India (62% and 16% of world importsin 2021),
China has diversified its tropical log sources frompredominantly Southeast Asia to the Pacific (PNG andSolomon Islands) and Africa,
decline of exports from Malaysia and the Mekong
subregion,
tropical log exports have been affected by trade
restrictions imposed by exporter countries (quantitativerestrictions, quotas on exports of certain products andspecies, and log export taxes).

International trade (tropical sawnwood)•Trended downwards since 1990:• declining trend in European markets
since 1990,• significant growth of China’s tropicalsawnwood imports,• exports have transitioned fromproducts sourced from natural forests
to plantations,• declines in sawnwood exports from
Brazil, Indonesia and Malaysia,• Thailand’s exports of plantation-grown
rubberwood have grown since 2009,
almost all of which has gone to China’s
wooden furniture industry.

Imports of tropical sawnwood, by major importing country or region,
1990–2022

International trade (tropical plywood)
16

Volume (million m3)

14
12

China

Japan

Malaysia

Republic of Korea

Singapore

Taiwan Province of China

United Kingdom

United States

EU-27

Middle East

Others108• declining trend since 1990,• United States tropical plywood imports
are linked to housing and construction,with imports accelerating between 2017
to 2021:• antidumping investigations and haveaffected imports of tropical plywood fromChina, with importers diversifying supply
sources to other tropical plywood
suppliers,

64201990• Trended downwards since 1990:

1994

1998

2002

2006

2010

2014

2018

2022

Global imports of tropical plywood, by major importing
country or region, 1990–2022• tropical plywood export trade has been
dominated by China, Indonesia,Malaysia and Viet Nam.

International trade (SPWPs)••••

Growth in the value of exports of SPWPs fromtropical countries, up from USD 1.7 billion in1990, to USD 14.7 billion in 2000, to USD 36.1
billion in 2022.
Rapid growth in wooden furniture exports
from China and Viet Nam.
The share of wooden furniture in total SPWP
exports (by value) from tropical countries
increased from 28% in 1990, to 57% in 2000,
to 75% in 2022.
Dominant markets for SPWP imports aredeveloped economies:••

global demand for wooden furniture andjoinery follows trends in housing starts andconsumer spending in the EU and the UnitedStates,
imports of wooden furniture have grownconsiderably worldwide since 1990, especiallyin Australia, EU, Japan, the Republic of Korea
and the United States.

Market developments of tropical timber
and timber products
3 important factors:
Economic trends, Building and construction indicators, and Market policy trends
and accessMarket policy trends and access•••Numerous policy measures are now being implemented to improveforest law enforcement and governance and counter the trade inillegally harvested timber (Lacey Act, EUTR/EUDR, etc.)
Certifications, procurement policies , and CITES species protection
EU Environment Council votes for deforestation-free supply chains. Newrules are intended to prevent timber, coffee, cocoa, palm oil, beef, soy
and derivative products from entering the EU internal market in future if
their production has caused deforestation

EUDR: Timeline
29.06.2023
Entered intoforce

EUTR applies

18 Months

30.12.2027
Fully replaces
EUTR

30.12.2024
Applied

EUTR and EUDR apply
in parallel

EUDR applies

3 Years
EUTR continues to apply in case of:Source: ETTF, 2023

•Harvest before 29.06.2023•Placing on the EU market between 30.12.2024 und30.12.2027

EUDR applies to all wood harvested from 29.6.2023

EUDR: Information required from producers• Evidence that wood was harvested legally• Evidence that the wood doesn’t originate from a plot ofland where deforestation or forest degradation occurred
after 31.12.2020
EUTR applies
EUDR applies• For high-risk-countries (evidence of corruption or mixing
along supply chains etc.), additional information and risk
mitigation measures might be necessary

Source: ETTF, 2023

EUDR: Information required from producers• Geo-coordinates of all plots of land where wood washarvested:• Area under four hectares: single point• From four hectares: polygon
EUTR applies
EUDR applies
be specified!
• In case of several plots of land: everything must

• Date or time range of harvest• Information about the product (scientific name etc.)

Source: ETTF, 2023

EUDR: Conclusion• Illegal logging, deforestation and forest degradation are
not the problem. The challenge is collecting andforwarding the necessary proof that the wood is legal anddeforestation-free
EUTR applies
EUDR applies• Insufficient information = no import into EUpossible• Nobody is prepared better for this regulation than forestry
enterprises in the tropics (already use GIS systems;
documents proving compliance exist; experience withEUTR)
Source: ETTF, 2023

TUSEN TACK!

www.itto.int
tetra@itto.int