Processed Wood Global Demand 2021

Growing worldwide demand for processed/sawn wood reached approx. Export value of 32 billion Euro in 2020, an increase of 6% since 2016. The largest exports of processed sawn wood originated from Canada, Russia, Sweden, US & Germany. However, the whole Europe export output reached approx. 17.5 billion Euro (55%).

Green global transformation that speeds up, affects the wood products market. Increasing popularity of wooden construction and products made of wood point out that wood is the only renewable and carbon-free raw material. Recent growth in wood product demands had been caused by the companies rearranging their operations, supply chains and recovering from the COVID-19 impacts, which had earlier led to restrictive measures of social distancing, remote working, closure of factories and commercial activities, that resulted in operational challenges. That reflects generally on wood and processed wood market prices and material availabilities worldwide.

Global capacities of sawmills have been staidly increasing over the years. Current sharp market demands cannot be kept without further deforestation. Generally processed wood comes mainly from the forests and the tree farms where controlled harvesting takes years, depending on type of wood, and required wood applications. Due to recent incresed exports and lack of material availabilities for domestic markets Hungary, Croatia, Romania, Russia, Belarus and Ukraine imposed restrictions on the export of timber. Other countries my join to limit on timber exports in order to protect own domestic wide processing industries.

About 50% of the world's wood resources are turned into fuel (wood gas and charcoal). This indicator is higher in developing countries and lower in developed countries. Remaining group of products made of processed wood accounts for cardboard packaging, paper & clothes industry. Resin products, plywood, blockboards, fiberboards / chipboards, flooring, paneling, siding, beams, windows, doors & furniture.

It is becoming essential to consider carbon emissions over the entire life cycle, of each product from the production to the final usage phase and recycling. Increasing the use of sawn timber products is a significant opportunity to reduce on production of carbon emissions. In construction industry wood-based structures are becoming more and more trendy. Market research, sourcing and traceability of raw material origin are important factors for each market player. Procurement Affiliation is your partner for market research, sourcing & pre-qualification of supply chain partners.

The global wood products market, of which the processed / sawn wood market is a segment, reached an approx. value of 577 billion Euro in 2019. It is forecasted that market will grow further to reach nearly 678 billion Euro by 2023. The wood processing market is expected to benefit from steady economic growth over the next years thanks to the green global transformation and environmental sustainability.

#woodproduct #timberconstruction #woodindustry #procurement