Since the beginning of the year, the Chinese timber market is impacted by a low availability of wood, rising prices which had brought anxiety to the market and increased the production and operation costs of Chinese enterprises. Chinese softwood log inventories are at the lowest level seen in years, with zero supply from Australia, following China's log export ban, rising ocean freight costs, which put a heavy burden on log imports, and rising domestic demand in key wood supplying countries.  Consequently, Chinese companies contacted by GWMI, have reported a considerable rise in timber import prices ...