OREANDA-NEWS. December 18, 2013. China’s demand for timber has been increasing since the beginning of 2013 after a quiet period in 2012 and the increase is largely the result of demand from the housing market, ITTO reported.

Log imports increased dramatically in the first three quarters of 2013 growing to 33.26 million cubic metres valued at USD 6.83 billion, up 16% in volume and 23% in value over the same period in 2012. The average price for imported logs rose 5% to USD 205.4 per cubic metre.

The top log suppliers in the 1Q of this year were New Zealand (up 34%), Russia (down 8%) and the USA (up 48%) at 8.31 million cubic metres, 7.78million cubic metres and 4.04 million cubic metres respectively.

In the 1Q 2013 imports from New Zealand exceeded those from Russia for the first time.