{"id":76762,"date":"2018-11-16T06:53:09","date_gmt":"2018-11-16T06:53:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/tin.happy-projects.ro\/forecast-new-trends-emerge-chinas-softwood-log-lumber-supply-chain\/"},"modified":"2025-09-19T08:49:27","modified_gmt":"2025-09-19T08:49:27","slug":"forecast-new-trends-emerge-chinas-softwood-log-lumber-supply-chain","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.timberindustrynews.com\/ro\/forecast-new-trends-emerge-chinas-softwood-log-lumber-supply-chain\/","title":{"rendered":"Forecast: New trends to emerge in China’s softwood log, lumber supply chain"},"content":{"rendered":"

Ongoing developments and emerging themes in China continue to significantly impact market dynamics; these key themes are unmistakable to anyone who has traveled in the country in 2018. The economics and competitive advantage of various exporters in the supply chain to China are also changing continually \u2014 be it foreign currency exchange rates, ocean freight rates or changing domestic costs, importing and consuming regions are being affected in quite diverse ways.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

At the moment, an expanded presence of Russian lumber in China can be noticed. There has been an ongoing movement away from green lumber (produced in Russia or northern China at the border) to kiln-dried product, component lumber and specialty items.\u00a0<\/span>Significant, ongoing investments into kilns and planers at Russian mills in Russia, Chinese mills in Russia, and Chinese mills at the border have increased the value of lumber and reduced the weight for onward shipment. A growing number of Chinese distributors and processing companies (both those in Russia and in China at the border) are tapping into the supply chain from Chinese mills as a means to access Russian spruce and red pine lumber. This is highly evident in the furniture sector as improvements are made, at the expense of other exporters, to the quality and competitiveness of Russian spruce and pine.<\/p>\n

China\u2019s supply chain<\/strong><\/p>\n

China\u2019s supply chain involves large (often massive) distribution centres (land, ocean and river ports) near both major cities and emerging consuming regions (mainly in inland China). The logs and lumber that enter China via ports take various traditional supply routes as they are allocated for consumption, processing or redistribution.<\/p>\n

Softwood logs and lumber are used in China in many diverse applications and tend to exhibit fluidity (based on prevailing demand\/prices) across a variety of segments. The flow of product within China is therefore rather complex, often resulting in region-specific applications.<\/p>\n

The supply chain survey conducted suggests that only 44% of softwood lumber imports are processed in the area in which they first arrive. Lumber is lighter (kiln-dried) and more specific grades are produced, so this is a trend that should allow for increased shipments beyond the ports of origin. The summary revealed that a considerable volume of lumber is re-exported to other consuming areas (in many cases close to other ports) to meet specific end-user species, grade or size requirements. The Shanghai area has the largest volume of annual lumber imports (7.5 million m3), with other ports comprising 1.6\u20132.6 million m3.<\/p>\n

For logs, the survey showed that some 67% of imports are processed in the areas in which they arrive, a figure that appears realistic given that logs are expensive to transport over long distances (leading to log processing centres being established in close proximity to ports). As for lumber, the survey revealed that a substantial volume of logs is being re-exported to other areas (mainly from Shanghai-\/Lanshan-area ports).<\/p>\n

One complication of the lumber trade in China is the huge volume of imported logs being processed into lumber at small local sawmills. In the report, the various end uses for logs and lumber are broken out by port and consuming region in such a way as to account for the main end uses; these include construction; furniture and related finished products; decoration\/remanufacturing; treated lumber; packaging\/industrial; and wood-frame house construction. These end uses are also forecasted out to 2025.<\/p>\n

Government initiatives and policies<\/strong><\/p>\n

A combination of ongoing government initiatives and policies continues to impact the Chinese industry, market and supply chain. The industry has needed to morph and adapt in order to comply with the new policies while also meeting the growing demand for cost-competitive wood products. These policies will persist in underscoring the country\u2019s preference and need for imports to fulfill its demand. These include:<\/p>\n