April 2014: The International Tropical Timber Organization (ITTO) has released the 1-15 April issue of the Tropical Timber Market (TTM) Report, which highlights an order by China’s State Forestry Administration to halt commercial logging in the Hinggan mountain ranges, where over 500 million cubic meters of natural forests have been extracted over the past 50 years. The Government of China announced it will support the livelihoods of those affected by this decision until 2020.

Other stories featured in the report include a report on price increases for West African timber and regional plywood markets in Ghana. Asian headline stories include: confusion over Japan’s Wood Use Point system; increasing log exports from Japan to China; and increasing prices for redwood in China due to decreasing availability. In Myanmar, the report describes a rush to beat the log export ban, which became effective on 31 March 2014.

In the EU, the report states that the EU Timber Regulation (EUTR) had little impact on plywood imports in 2013. Overall, EU imports of Chinese hardwood and plywood decreased 4% from 2012, with declines in Belgium, Germany, the Netherlands and United Kingdom (UK), and increases in Bulgaria, France and Romania. In the US, the report highlights increases in imports of Indonesian assembled flooring alongside decreased hardwood flooring imports.

In addition to the headline stories, the report contains TTM reports from Central and West Africa, Malaysia, Indonesia, Myanmar, India, Brazil, Peru, Guyana, Japan, China, Europe and North America.

The TTM, published through the ITTO Market Information Service (MIS), requires free registration to access the reports. [Publication: TTM Report: Volume 18 Number 7]