North American wood industry 2017

According to Wood Resources International (WRI), log exports from western U.S. to China will grow in coming time, while shipments to South Korea may decrease. Log exports to Japan will remain stable. The increase in log exports from western U.S. may lead to the higher log prices for key lumber producers in 2017.

It is supposed that log imports to China will especially increase from New Zealand. Russian shipments will decrease due to the problems with infrastructure. U.S. contribution to China’s log import will remain on stable level, despite projected growth in harvest in U.S Pacific Northwest.

Interestingly, it was said that 20 U.S. pellet plants exported abroad 4.8 million tons of pellets in 2016, and this amount has grown significantly in recent years, and it is expected to increase further due to renewable energy policy of the European Union. In addition, three new pellet plants (450-600 Kt each) are expected to start pellet production and shipping to Europe in 2017 in the U.S. Wood industry is developing in South East U.S. to satisfy growing EU demand.

On the other hand, 16 pellet plants in Canada exported 10% of their pellets to Asia, while 90% also were sold to Europe (around 2.2. million tons, with expected slight growth in coming years).

As for Canada, lower harvest levels are expected in British Columbia as well as quite stable sawlog prices in 2017.

The information is provided according to https://www.forest-monitor.com/en/