Timber imports edge up in Q3 despite continued year-to-date decline

According to Timber Development UK, new timber import figures covering Q3 2025 reveal an ongoing mixed picture for the sector, with year-to-date volumes still trailing 2024 but showing signs of improvement as the year progressed

The latest TDUK statistics confirm that total imports in the first nine months of 2025 reached 7.01 million m³ – around 2.1% below the 7.15 million m³ recorded in the same period of 2024. This gap has narrowed since the half-year point when volumes were down by 2.9%.

This slight uplift has been driven by a need to replenish stocks following a flurry of construction activity in Q2. This resulted in a more positive third quarter for imports, with higher volumes than in Q3 2024 across the softwood, hardwood, plywood, OSB and engineered wood product sectors. Overall imports for the quarter were only 0.2% lower than Q3 2024, with a marked drop in MDF imports preventing combined volumes from moving into year-on-year growth.

For the year to date, solid wood imports from January to September were 2.5% lower than in the same period in 2024, while panel products were down by 1.3%. Weaker demand for softwood and a significant 25% fall in imported MDF remain the main factors holding back overall growth. By contrast, hardwood, particleboard and OSB imports have all edged ahead of 2024 levels, with hardwood plywood, softwood plywood and engineered wood products also delivering consistent gains throughout 2025.

The supply balance within softwood imports has also shifted. Despite a stronger September from Sweden, reduced volumes from the country accounted for more than the entire year-to-date deficit of 118,000m³. Germany and the Republic of Ireland also recorded declines of 9% and 14% respectively, lowering their shares of supply. These reductions were partly offset by increased volumes from Latvia and Finland, which rose by more than 60,000m³ and 30,000m³, respectively.

Softwood imports

Softwood import values rose sharply in the nine months to September, increasing by 9% compared with 2024. Planed softwood values climbed by 8% and sawn goods rose by 11%. These increases were driven by a 12% rise in the average price of all softwood imports, despite overall softwood volumes falling by almost 3%. Pricing data indicates that softwood prices have risen over the past 12 months, diverging from the downward trends seen in sawn hardwood and plywood. Recent months, however, show signs of softwood prices beginning to soften.

Hardwood imports

Hardwood imports remained largely unchanged year on year, growing by just 0.2% in total volume. The USA, Latvia and France increased their supplies by 5%, 25% and 4% respectively, while Cameroon recorded a 19% rise. Tropical hardwood volumes fell by 3%, despite significant increases from Cameroon and Malaysia, due to reductions from other key supplying countries. Temperate hardwood imports dropped by around 6%, with declines from Romania, the USA and Estonia offset only by France, which increased volumes by around 2,000m³.

Panel products

The panel products sector showed a varied performance. Hardwood plywood imports rose by approximately 55,000m³, driven primarily by increased supply from China and Malaysia, which together provided 80% of the total. At present, it’s difficult to determine whether this marked increase is due to higher consumption or Chinese hardwood plywood being diverted as a result of EU anti-dumping measures. Particleboard volumes increased by just over 1%, although changes in supply patterns were notable, with losses from Portugal and Belgium balanced by gains from China and Luxembourg.

Engineered products

In engineered products, Finland continued to dominate the UK laminated veneer lumber (LVL) market, supplying 83% of volume. Although this share is slightly lower than in 2024, Finnish volumes still grew by around 14%.

According to the latest NSD Softwood Import Forecast, import volumes are expected to fall by around 3% in 2025 to approximately 5.62 million m³, before growing by 3.7% in 2026 to around 5.83 million m³. Demand remains weak, but this forecast growth would place import volumes slightly higher than seen in any of the last five years, suggesting the market may finally be turning a corner, although there’s clearly a long way to go.

Nick Boulton, Head of Technical and Trade at TDUK, said: “The latest timber import figures for Q1-Q3 of 2025 do show a slight improvement, albeit from a very low base, with several product categories showing signs of uplift, particularly in the third quarter. This is most likely restocking after the increased construction activity we saw at mid-year. That said, the market remains difficult and overall volumes remain behind last year’s levels. The slight improvement is welcome, but it underlines just how sensitive demand continues to be across the sector. We’ll need to see sustained stability in 2026 before confidence can fully return to the market.”

TDUK members can sign in and read the full report on the TDUK website: www.timberdevelopment.uk