China Wood Products Prices

1-15th January 2006

US Dollar Exchange Rates of  6th January 2006

China Yuan 8.067
Report from China

The EU import duty on Chinese plywood products, for which antidumping regulations do not apply, raised from 3.5% to 7% as of 1 January 2006. The antidumping duties set for Chinese okume plywood in November 2004 remain unaffected.

Although the sales of Chinese plywood in Europe developed positively in 2005, the new import duty might cool down these sales. Chinese softwood plywood was recently affected by the rise in the US dollar against the euro and price reductions for Brazilian elliotis pine plywood. Furthermore, Euwid cite unconfirmed reports that the EU might raise the punitive tariff duties on Chinese okoume plywood and impose punitive tariff duties on Chinese poplar/bintangor plywood.

The expansion of the bamboo industry has accelerated and consolidated as one of the four most booming industries in China’s forestry. The sixth national forest resources inventory shows that China has 4.84 million hectares of bamboo forests, 50% of which are in Fujian, Jiangxi and Zhejiang provinces. There are 130 counties or cities in 13 southern provinces with bamboo forest areas above 150,000 mu (1 hectare equals 15 mu). According to preliminary statistics, the output va lue of the Chinese bamboo industry was about $5.5 billion in 2004, up 120% from 2000, while export earnings reached $600 million, up 20% from 2000.

Timber sales in Beijing have increased recently while prices for all wood products have risen. While prices for logs and sawnwood for construction rose slightly, those for further processing surged significantly. The price for tropical species rose due to their limited availability. Teak prices, for example, rose to 4,000 yuan per m3. Timber species for flooring manufacturing are also selling well.

While imports of tropical logs from Southeast Asia decline gradually, China’s eyes turn to Russia. Timber imports through Jiangsu Province’s Taicang Port continue to grow significantly. Imports of Russian logs through the port reached 720,000 m3 ($57 million) by the end of September 2005, doubling the import level the same period last year.

 In addition to reduced availability of tropical logs, imports from Russia have increased due to rapid development of the wood and furniture industry in Taicang City and surrounding areas. Furthermore, the port has good access to Russia and well established processing chains of imported log. Russian log im ports through the port were expected to top 1 million m3 by the end of 2005.

Abbreviations

LM        Loyale Merchant, a grade of log parcel	Cu.m         Cubic Metre
QS         Qualite Superieure	Koku         0.278 Cu.m or 120BF
CI          Choix Industriel	FFR            French Franc
CE         Choix Economique	SQ              Sawmill Quality
CS         Choix Supplimentaire	SSQ            Select Sawmill Quality
FOB      Free-on-Board	FAS            Sawnwood Grade First and
KD        Kiln Dry	Second
AD        Air Dry	WBP           Water and Boil Proof
Boule    A Log Sawn Through and Through	MR              Moisture Resistant
the boards from one log are bundled	pc         per piece
together	ea                each
BB/CC  Grade B faced and Grade C backed	MBF           1000 Board Feet
Plywood	MDF           Medium Density Fibreboard
BF         Board Foot	F.CFA         CFA Franc
Sq.Ft     Square Foot	Price has moved up or down