Imports of lumber to European Union fall 57% in October

In October 2022, the imports of lumber to European Union fell 57% year-on-year to 351 thousand m3. According to Lesprom Analytics, the average price for lumber imported to European Union decreased 10% compared to the previous month and amounted to $525 per m3. This is 16% more than a year ago when it was $452.

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@David_Stallcop @Matt_Layman

Is this due to Europes increased reliance on domestic production?

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The market is in the tank in Europe with demand barely crawling along. Spruce and Pine domestic production of KVH timbers (finger joint timbers) are being sold between $240/m3 and $280/m3 FOB Mill. So, the Lesprom figure of $525/m3 must be skewed toward hardwood lumber imports more than softwood lumber imports. These producers can grind their spruce and pine lumber up and make more money selling the fiber as residential fire wood pellets than selling them for construction timbers. The US market is the only market where they can produce and ship to right now and at “a number” it can be sold. It might not be an attractive number but it can still be sold.

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Great insights @David_Stallcop, then are you seeing an increase in Euro exports to the US?

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@Andrew_Gibson there is DEFINITELY an increase in Euro exports to the US. Not just dimension lumber, but also 1" boards.

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Is the euro supply getting refilled at the ports?

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There is A LOT of Euro lumber at US ports. However, for the past week the demand has increased dramatically and a lot is being sold right now. The difficult task will be the ports having enough forklift drivers to load out everything after nearly a month of not much moving the last 3 weeks of December and the first week of January. Most Central European sawmills are on some sort of curtailment schedules - although they don’t announce it like North American mills do. This will slow Feb/March volumes from that part of Europe. However, Sweden won’t stop shipping and will continue increasing their volumes to the US. The Swedish Crown is still weak against the US$, historically. Although it is stronger than last September & October. Many people don’t realize that although Sweden is part of the European Union, they still use their own currency and not the Euro.

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Count me among those who didn’t realize Sweden was not a Euro country :+1:

Yet another dynamic component to track in the industry. I’m always impressed by your ability to stay on top of it all.

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