KUCHING: Malaysia’s export of hardwood plywood to the United States of America (US) has climbed by 21 per cent to 3,688 cubic metres (cu m) in April 2023 from 3,048 cu m in the previous month of March.
Major suppliers all benefitted from the rise in US imports of hardwood plywood for the second straight month to 160,545 cu m from 147,873 cu m in March or an increase of nine per cent.
Vietnam’s shipments to the US surged by 120 per cent to 33,796 cu m from 15,388 cu m month-on-month while Indonesia (to supplier) also recorded a 25 per cent gain in the export to 42,775 cu m from 34,205 cu m during the same period,
according to data from US Census Bureau, Foreign Trade Statistics quoted by the International Tropical Timber Organisation (ITTO) Tropical Timber Market Report (June 1-15, 2023).
US increased shipments from China by 78 per cent to 3,478 cu m in April against 1,954 cu m in March while imports from Cambodia slipped marginally to 7,698 cu m from 7,732 cu m in March.
On the other hand, US imports from Russia plunged 87 per cent to 2,671 cu m from 20,494 cu m month-on-month.
While the trend of April 2023’s imports is encouraging, the report said US hardwood plywood import volume was down 63 per cent as compared to April 2022, with shipments from most major supply countries down in the 60-80 per cent range.
In April, US imports of tropical hardwood and related products showed gains for the second consecutive month but still remain far below last year’s level.
“Imports of tropical hardwood, hardwood plywood, wooden furniture and tropical hardwood veneer all rose in the 9 per cent to 15 per cent range in April.
“But through the first four months of the year, these imports are considerably behind 2022 year-to-date numbers. Numbers are trending in the right direction but there is still plenty of ground to make up,” said the ITTO report.
After several months of decline, US imports of sawn tropical hardwood recovered and jumped 13 per cent to 16,377 cu m in April 2023, down 37 per cent from April 2022.
“A rise of 97 per cent in imports from Brazil accounted for most of the gain although imports from Ecuador, Indonesia and Ghana also showed significant growth. Even with the monthly gains, imports from all major trading partners are lagging behind 2022 totals through the first four months of the year — with the two biggest traders, Brazil and Indonesia, down 46 per cent and 76 per cent respectively.
“Overall, US sawn tropical hardwood imports are down 41 per cent from last year through April.”
On tropical hardwood veneer, the US data showed that imports expanded by nine per cent by value in April on a spike of shipments from Cameroon, which soared by 4,000 per cent and accounted for more than one-third of all veneer imports for the month.
US imports of hardwood flooring edged up two per cent by value in April 2023 and this was nearly 42 per cent higher than the same period in 2022.
“Hardwood flooring is one of the few areas of consistent growth in 2023. Imports from China and Brazil, which have been lagging so far this year, showed the biggest growth in April while imports from Indonesia and Malaysia continued to show steady growth. Imports from Indonesia are up over 300 per cent so far this year. Total imports of hardwood flooring are up 15 per cent over last year through April.
“Imports of assembled flooring panels fell 10 per cent in April despite gains from most major trading partners. While imports from the biggest supply nations all rose — imports from Vietnam up 72 per cent, Indonesia up 18 per cent and Thailand up 15 per cent — they are all still well below imports from last April and far behind year-to-year imports versus 2022.
“A dive into the numbers show that the April down tick was due to a 35 per cent drop in imports from smaller supplying countries around the world, such as Italy and Austria. Total imports of assembled flooring panels remain behind 2022 by 43 per cent.”
The ITTO report said US imports of hardwood moulding saw an 11 per cent value gain in April, ending a six-month slide.
Imports from Malaysia and Canada both gained more than 10 per cent for the month while imports from China, which fell sharply in March, quadrupled in April to recover.
Shipments from Brazil continued downward, felling by nearly 50 per cent for a second month in a row. Total imports are down 33 per cent so far this year against 2022.
On wooden furniture, the US data showed that the world’s largest economy imported US$78 million worth of the goods from Malaysia in April, down nine per cent from US$86 million in March.
“US imports of wooden furniture ended their skid in April on stronger numbers from China and Vietnam. While the US$$1.604 billion in April imports was 30 per cent less than April 2022 totals, it was 14 per cent above that of the previous month. Imports from China rose 48 per cent in April and imports from Vietnam rose 41 per cent.
“However, even with the gains, imports from the two countries are far behind their April 2022 levels and their 2022 totals through the first four months of the year. Total wooden furniture imports are down 29 per cent so far this year versus 2022,” said the report.
