US Dollar Exchange Rates of
25th
Apr
2022
China Yuan 6.6085
Report from China
Supply chain pressure increases
The spread of COVID-19 and urban lockdowns have had a
huge impact on the global timber supply chain for a long
time and have led to soaring freight rates and rising timber
prices. Although freight rates have risen the impact on
wood supplies has been equally impacted by disruption of
transport from the ports and the difficulty faced by
overseas raw material suppliers in securing containers.
Shanghai City is under lockdown which has resulted in
serious cargo accumulation at the port. Shanghai Port is
one of the important container ports in China and 20% of
exports pass through the port. Cargo volumes are now
exceeding port capacity and trucks with containers are
backing up on highways and vessels arriving for cargo are
being delayed at sea. If the outbreak in Shanghai continues
China could face a logistics crisis.
Global shipping companies and exporters in the eastern
provinces of Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Anhui and Shanghai are
turning to Ningbo Port in Zhejiang some three hours from
Shanghai, to avoid the congestion at Shanghai Port.
First quarter 2022 housing trend
The National Bureau of Statistics has reported national
real estate development and sales for January to March
2022 saying there was a 0.7% year on year increase in
sales.
The overall construction area increased 1.0% and the
area
of residential construction increased 1.1% however, the
completed housing area was down 11.5%. In March, the
real estate development climate index stood at 96 after a
slight improvement in February.
Retail sales up slightly in the first quarter
In the first quarter retail sales of social consumer goods
increased of 3.3% year on year. Sales of consumer goods
(other than automobiles) increased 3.6%. Excluding price
factors, retail sales of consumer goods in the first quarter
actually increased by 1.3 percent year-on-year. In March
retail sales of consumer goods dropped 3.5% year on year.
Surge in fibreboard exports in 2021
According to China Customs exports have been
dominating China¡¯s fibreboard trade in recent years. The
volume of China¡¯s fibreboard exports fell to 1.52 million
tonnes in 2020 from 2.09 million tonnes in 2017 however,
exports surged 49% to 2.26 million tonnes year on year in
2021.
In 2021 China¡¯s fibreboard exports totalled 2.26
million
tonnes valued at US$1.2 billion a year on year increase of
49% in volume and 45% in value. The average CIF price
for China¡¯s fibreboard exports fell 3% to US$532 per
tonne.
China¡¯s fibreboard export markets are diverse and the
volume of fibreboard exports to the top 10 destinations
accounted for only 63% of the total in 2021. The top 3
countries in terms of fibreboard export volumes in 2021
were Vietnam, Nigeria and Mexico. China¡¯s fibreboard
exports in 2021 to Vietnam and Mexico surged but to
Nigeria fell 15%.
The USA was ranked fifth in terms of China¡¯s fibreboard
exports volume in 2021, previously it was ranked number
one.
The average CIF price for China¡¯s fibreboard exports to
Vietnam among the top 10 destination countries was
lowest at US$362 per tonne in 2021, down 14% year on
year. The average CIF price for China¡¯s fibreboard exports
to Mexico fell 26% year on year.
Decline in fibreboard imports in 2021
According to China Customs, fibreboard imports rose 8%
in 2018 but have been falling since that date.
China¡¯s fibreboard imports totalled 143,000 tonnes
valued
at US$132 million, down 3% in volume but up 23% in
value year on year in 2021. The average CIF price for
China¡¯s fibreboard imports rose 27% to US$928 per tonne.
The main suppliers of fibreboard imports in 2021 were
Germany, New Zealand, Thailand, Belgium and Spain.
The volume of China¡¯s fibreboard imports from Germany,
Thailand, Belgium and Spain rose 59%, 35%, 41% and
79%, however from New Zealand they fell 35% year on
year.
Steady rise in particleboard exports in 2021
According to China Customs data China¡¯s particleboard
exports from 2017 to 2021 have been rising except for a
decline of 4% in 2019. The capacity of China¡¯s domestic
particleboard industry has increased in recent.
In 2021 China¡¯s particleboard exports totaled
574,000
tonnes valued at US$429 million, surging 134% in volume
and 162% in value year on year. The average CIF price for
China¡¯s particleboard rose 12% to US$747 per tonne year
on year. Chile, Vietnam and Taiwan P.o.C were the top 3
markets in 2021. Demand in most of the top markets rose
in 2021 except for Mongolia and the UAE .
Decline in particleboard imports in 2021
China¡¯s particleboard imports have been very volatile. The
volume of China¡¯s particleboard imports in 2021 totalled
735,000 tonnes valued at US$323 million, down 5% in
volume but up 25% in value. The average CIF price for
China¡¯s particleboard imports rose 32% to US$439 per
tonne in 2021.
The main suppliers of China¡¯s particleboard imports
in
2021 were Thailand (30%), Romania (20%) and Brazil
(11%). These three countries accounted for 61% of total
imports in 2021.
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