Consumption of wood and panel products in the UK is still on the rise in 2017

The Timber Trade Federation (TTF) released its statistical review in 2017. This publication shows that consumption of wood products in the UK will resume growth in 2016. After the economic downturn in 2008, consumption of wood products rose for the first time to more than 16 million cubic meters, nearly 3%.

  As for the sources of timber and panel products imported into the United Kingdom, Europe remained the largest single source of supply in 2016 in terms of quantity and value. Specifically, the timber and panel products produced by the continent (including Russia) and the United Kingdom continue to dominate the UK supply chain and continue to account for about 91% of the supply.

  When it comes to the types of products imported, UK imports increased by 4.4% in 2016. This increase is due to the growth of particleboard (+12%), MDF (+9%) and softwood (+6%). Plywood imports increased by nearly 1%, but imports of hardwood in 2016 decreased by about 2%. On the other hand, the export of British timber and panel products is still very low at 500,000 cubic meters.

  Finally, the publication focuses on the impact of the housing market on wood consumption and on the state of the entire timber industry. In particular, the size and growth of the UK timber industry was assessed - worth £ 9.6 billion in 2015 - the importance of the industry in the UK economy is clear compared to many other industries.