KUCHING: Malaysia’s exports of tropical wood furniture, hardwood plywood, and mouldings/decking to the United Kingdom (UK) expanded significantly last year.
In 2024, the UK reported a 9 per cent rebound in wood furniture imports, reaching USD457 million, after experiencing a sharp 43 per cent decline in 2023.
Year-on-year, wood furniture import volume surged by 6 per cent to 122,400 tonnes in 2024.
From Malaysia, the UK increased imports of tropical wood furniture by 23 per cent to USD109 million, making Malaysia the second-largest supplier to Britain.
Shipments also increased from other leading suppliers: Vietnam (+7 per cent to USD235 million), India (+13 per cent to USD53 million), and Indonesia (+1 per cent to USD42 million).
However, imports declined from Thailand (-22 per cent to USD9 million) and Singapore (-18 per cent to USD5.4 million), according to the International Tropical Timber Organisation (ITTO) Tropical Timber Market Report (March 16-31, 2025).
Regarding tropical hardwood plywood, the report said that UK imports from Malaysia surged by 20 per cent to 51,000 cubic metres (cu m) last year, overtaking Indonesia as the second-largest supplier to Britain, after China.
“In 2024, the UK imported 178,400 cu m of tropical hardwood plywood, 12 per cent less than the previous year.
“Import value declined less sharply, by 5 per cent to USD113 million.
“The increase in the unit value of tropical hardwood imports into the UK last year was due to a sharp decline in imports of lower-value plywood with an outer layer of tropical hardwood from China.
“Direct imports of higher-value tropical hardwood plywood from tropical countries remained more stable last year.
“The UK imported 56,700 cu m of plywood with an outer layer of tropical hardwood from China in 2024, 34 per cent less than the previous year.
“UK imports of tropical hardwood plywood directly from tropical countries increased by 2 per cent to 114,000 cu m in 2024,” the ITTO reported.
Year-on-year, imports from Paraguay soared by 145 per cent to 5,900 cu m, while imports from Gabon jumped by 181 per cent to 2,800 cu m.
However, these gains were offset by a decline in imports from Indonesia (-12 per cent to 47,100 cu m) and Brazil (-21 per cent to 3,900 cu m).
The UK also shipped 7,700 cu m of tropical hardwood plywood from European Union (EU) countries in 2024, up by just 1 per cent from 2023.
Regarding tropical hardwood mouldings/decking, although UK import volume fell by 7 per cent to 9,400 tonnes, valued at USD26.6 million (-5 per cent) compared to 2023, shipments from Malaysia rose by 22 per cent to 3,100 tonnes, making Malaysia the top supplier last year, surpassing Indonesia.
This gain was, however, offset by declining imports from Indonesia (-9 per cent to 2,900 tonnes), Vietnam (-36 per cent to 500 tonnes), and EU countries (-27 per cent to 1,800 tonnes).
On tropical wood joinery, Malaysia’s exports of these products (mainly laminated products for kitchen and window applications) declined by 10 per cent to USD24 million, despite the UK’s total import volume increasing by 6 per cent to 74,100 tonnes and import value rising by 11 per cent to USD218 million in 2024.
UK imports from EU countries grew by 43 per cent to USD53 million year-on-year.
UK import value of joinery products from Indonesia (mainly doors) was USD104 million, up 9 per cent over the previous year but still below the USD138 million recorded in 2022.
Imports from China, nearly all of which were doors, totalled USD24 million in 2024, an increase of 6 per cent compared to the previous year, while imports from Vietnam rose by 2 per cent to USD8.1 million during the year.
Last year, the UK reported a 9 per cent drop in tropical sawn wood imports, falling to 88,380 cu m worth USD108 million, down 4 per cent from 2023.
Britain remains highly dependant on indirect imports from the EU, partly due to a shortage of kiln drying space in African supply countries, combined with a lack of hardwood kiln drying capacity in the UK itself.
Overall, in 2024, the UK imported 383,200 tonnes of tropical wood and wood furniture products worth USD994 million.
In terms of volume, this was a 3 per cent decline, but in value, it represented a 6 per cent increase from 2023.
“In tonnage terms, this was the lowest on record and, in retrospect, may be seen as a continuation of a long-term downward trend that began as far back as the 2008 financial crisis.
“Import quantity last year was roughly half the level of tropical wood imports into the UK seen two decades ago.
“There was an upturn in UK tropical wood product imports between 2015 and 2019, followed by another rebound in 2020-2022, but these trends were driven respectively by a significant rise in imports of plywood faced with tropical hardwood from China, and then by the short-lived post-COVID boom.
“Although UK imports of wood furniture and joinery products rebounded in 2024 after a sharp decline in 2023, imports of tropical plywood, sawn wood and mouldings continued to decline last year.
“The historically low levels of imports in 2024 reflect the weakness of the UK economy,” the ITTO reported.
