While there was some increase in imports by a few western European countries in 2018, eastern EU countries recorded much larger and more consistent gains in imports from non-EU countries last year.  Large increases were recorded in Poland, Romania, Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, Slovenia, Czech Republic, Croatia, Hungary, Bulgaria, and Slovakia.  This is a reflection both of their proximity to Russia, Ukraine and Belarus, the source of most of the rising imports, relatively higher rates of economic growth and construction sector growth in Eastern Europe, and the establishment of new wood processing and manufacturing capacity in ...