US Dollar Exchange Rates of
25th
Nov
2022
China Yuan 7.263
Report from China
Investment in
property continues to slip
According to the National Bureau of Statistics investment
in property development fell 8% in the first nine months of
2022 from a year earlier. Of the total, investment in
residential properties fell 7.5%.
See:
http://www.stats.gov.cn/tjsj/zxfb/202210/t20221024_1889465.html
Slight rise in birch log and sawnwood imports
China Customs has reported that between 2017 to 2021
birch logs imports rose slightly from 1.92 million cubic
metres to 1.94 million cubic metres and that birch
sawnwood imports grew 2% from 630,000 cubic metres to
640,000 cubic metres after declining in 2019 and 2020.
Russia was the largest supplier of birch logs and
sawnwood imports in 2021.
In the first eight months of 2022 China’s birch log imports
were 1.44 million cubic metres maintaining around the
same level as in 2021. Imports from Russia were down
just 1%. However, 12% of China’s birch log imports came
from Latvia and were up 16% to 180,000 cubic metres.
Rise in birch sawnwood imports from Russia
In the first eight months of 2022, China’s birch sawnwood
imports were 432,024 cubic metres, up 11% over the same
period of 2021.
Birch sawnwood exports to Vietnam
China’s birch sawnwood exports totalled just 4,594 cu.m
in 2017 and 3,983 cu.m in 2018. China exported birch
mainly to Japan, South Korea, Canada and USA before
2018. Due to big increases in labour costs in China many
companies relocated to Vietnam and these factories import
a large amount of timber from China, especially
sawnwood.
China’s birch sawnwood exports rose 121% to 25,000
cubic metres in 2020 and by 53% to 38,000 cubic metres
in 2021. Vietnam became the largest destination country
for China’s birch sawnwood exports from 2019.
Although China's exports of birch sawnwood to
Vietnam
have increased the volume is small compared to China’s
birch log imports. Most of the imported birch is consumed
in the domestic market.
Zhangzhou port - first in radiata pine imports
Zhangzhou port is one of the top ten timber ports in China
and is a major port in Fujian province. The port is ranked
first in log imports and top in the import of radiata pine in
China.
With the advantage of having available imported timbers
as industrial resources wood-based panel production is a
major sector and the number plywood lines account for
around one third of all in China.
Through transformation and upgrading of the plywood
industry and the construction of industrial zones there has
been an expansion of high quality production. There are
nearly 1,500 wood processing enterprises in Zhangzhou
City and the output value of the whole industrial chain is
nearly RMB60 billion. The total output of wood-based
panels is about 6 million cubic metre worth RMB15
billion.
Zero additives rubberwood treatment
According to the domestic media researchers in China
have developed a process to treat rubberwood, a so-called
‘Zero additives’ process’ and this is being used
commercially. Freshly sawn rubberwood is susceptible to
insect attack and blue stain so requires early treatment,
usually with boric acid.
The Chinese research team has patented a ‘zero additives’
treatment process to replace chemical agents. It is claimed
that the treatment cycle is shorter, the color and the
dimensional stability are assured.
The research and development of this technology is
expected to gradually replace the current treatment process
for rubberwood and “promote the development of rubber
wood processing toward a safer and more environmentfriendly
direction”.
Despite the current weak demand for rubberwood products
in the domestic and international market enterprises that
have adopted the new technology have good order book
positions.
See:
http://www.hi.chinanews.com.cn/hnnew/2022-10-19/657363.html
|
