The volume of US sawn temperate and tropical hardwood imports grew slightly in July from the previous month while the value of imports declined 3%. The drop in import value was largely in temperate species, while tropical hardwood imports grew 1% to $24.1 million in July. Year-to-date tropical imports were down 16% compared to July 2015, ITTO reported.
Month-on-month imports of most tropical species declined in July with the exception of ipe (3,144 cubic metres, +21%), virola (1,186 cubic metres, +41%), meranti, jatoba and teak.
Year-to-date imports of balsa, mahogany, cedro and padauk were higher than in July 2015, while imports of other sawnwood decreased. Sawn hardwood imports from Brazil were 4,640 cubic metres in July, up 17% from June due to higher imports of ipe.
Keruing imports from Malaysia fell in July to 1,714 cubic metres in July. Sawnwood imports from Indonesia also declined (1,338 cubic metres) but year-to-date imports were up 10% from July last year.
Sapelli sawnwood imports from Cameroon fell to 632 cubic metres in July, while Congo (Brazzaville) increased sapelli shipment from the previous month to 884 cubic metres. Imports from all African suppliers were significantly lower year-to-date than in 2015.
