While China – in spite of slowing economic growth – is still exporting tons of finished product to the West, few industries have succeeded in increasing exports in the opposite direction.
However, the US and Canadian timber suppliers have achieved huge growth in exporting lumber freight to the Chinese. Wood Resource Quarterly predicts that exports in 2011 will double those in 2010; softwood shipments are expected to reach an estimated value of US$2.6 billion. Lumber cargo from Canada alone could reach $1.2 billion this year, and the USA proportion of log and lumber import volumes to China has increased from 4% in 2005 to 18%.
The wood is used in manufacturing and construction.
