According to the latest statistics from the State Forestry Administration, the value of China's 2014 international trade in wood products rose 8.4% to US$140 billion.
While this was a record high the rate of growth in trade fell by around 1% compared to
2013. Of the total, the value of imports rose 16% to US$67.8 billion and the value of exports also grew by 16% to US$72.2.
Wood pulp, logs, sawnwood, waste paper, paper, paperboard and paper products and
wood chips imports dominated the trade accounting for 95% of the value of wooden product imports in 2014.
The value of wooden furniture, paper, paperboard and paper products, plywood and other wood products exports accounted for 89% of the value of all wood products exports in 2014.
Wood pulp remained the leading imported wood product in 2014. Wood pulp imports were 17.96 million tonnes valued at US$12.1 billion, up 6.6% in volume and 6.1% in value from 2013.
China mainly imported wood pulp from the US (23%), Canada (16%) and Brazil (12%). The top 10 suppliers are shown in the third diagram.
Wood chip imports in 2014
Wood chips imports in 2014 were 8.86 million tonnes valued at US$1.54 billion, down 6% in tonnage and down 22% in value from 2013.
China imported wood chips mainly from Vietnam (45%), Australia (24%), Indonesia (14%) and Thailand (12%). 95% of China's wood chips imports were from these four supply countries.
Wooden furniture exports in 2014
The value of wooden furniture exports in 2014 rose 14% to US$22.1 billion, accounting for 41% of the national total value of forest product exports and continued to be the number one export wood product.
The main export markets were the USA (32%), Japan (7%), UK (6%) and Germany (5%). The top 10 markets for China's wooden furniture exports are shown below. The main ports handling wooden furniture exports were Shenzhen (29%), Shanghai (21%), Fuzhou (10%), Ningbo (9%), Qingdao (8%) and Xiamen (7%).