China's demand for African timber remains strong despite the volatility facing the global timber market.

According to customs data, China imported a total of up to 1.46 million cubic metres of African timber from January to June 2024, achieving a remarkable growth of 16% compared to the same period last year; total imports reached $470 million, an increase of 8.6% year-on-year; while the average unit price of imports fell slightly by 7%.

Monthly data:
From the monthly data, African timber imports fluctuate between different months.
At the beginning of the year, some African countries suffered from the rainy season, timber harvesting and transport work was seriously hampered, coupled with the unstable situation in the Red Sea region led to shipping detours, port congestion, the combination of these factors, African timber arrivals in January fell sharply by 19%.

However, the resilience of the market gradually emerged in the following months, especially in February and April, timber imports surged by 79 per cent and 44 per cent respectively, becoming the highlight within the first half of the year.

A solid 33 per cent growth was also maintained in June, indicating a pick-up in market demand.

Country-by-country situation:
Among the African countries exporting timber to China, Gabon became the biggest bright spot in the first half of the year, with its timber exports to China soaring 58% to 407,300 cubic metres.

South Africa and Ghana also performed outstandingly, achieving amazing growth of 75% and 89% respectively, becoming the emerging force in the timber trade in the first half of the year.

In addition, other African countries such as Mozambique, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Equatorial Guinea and Central Africa also achieved growth in timber exports to China to varying degrees.

In terms of timber material types:
·Sapelli
In the first five months of 2024, China's total import of Sapelli sawn timber surged to 45000 cubic meters, a 1.5-fold increase compared to the same period last year. At the same time, the import value also increased synchronously, reaching 24.94 million US dollars, achieving a 1.5-fold growth.

The Sapelli wood imported by our country mainly comes from African countries such as Cameroon, Congo (Brazzaville), and Congo (Kinshasa). Among them, Cameroon holds nearly 60% of the market share and has become the main source of timber imports for Shabelle in China.

·Okoume
Okoume logs have also shown a positive growth trend. The total import volume in the first half of the year has risen to 150000 cubic meters, a year-on-year increase of 7%.

Among them, February became the peak of imports, with the monthly landed volume soaring to 40000 cubic meters, a 98% increase compared to the same period last year; Although June was the lowest monthly point in the first half of the year, it still increased nearly 4.5 times compared to the same period in 2023.

It is worth noting that although both trade volume and import volume have increased, the average import unit price of Okoume logs has experienced a mild decrease of 4%.

According to statistics, Congo (Brazzaville) accounts for over 70% of the market share of Okoume exports to China.
In terms of the domestic market, since March, the domestic timber inventory has entered the stage of "active destocking", and there are structural differences in the recovery of downstream demand. This trend may continue for a longer period of time in the second half of the year.

The increase in imports of these timber species reflects the domestic market's demand for diversification and quality improvement of African timber.

Future trends:
Although African timber imports showed strong growth in the first half of the year, the future still faces many uncertainties.

The global economic slowdown is likely to have a further impact on the timber market, with investment and demand in key timber-consuming sectors such as construction and furniture manufacturing likely to be dampened.

In addition, factors such as the political and economic situation in African countries, weather changes and international trade policies may also have an impact on timber imports.