16 January 2015: The International Tropical Timber Organization (ITTO) launched the 1-15 January issue of the Tropical Timber Market (TTM) Report, highlighting a dramatic increase in redwood imports to China, with October 2014 values more than twice the figures in the same period of 2013. The report also notes that the export of redwood furniture from China only increased by 18% between 2013 and 2014.

In Myanmar, the report states that the expected drop in domestic prices for teak logs following the export ban didn’t occur, in part due to high demand for timber as a result of a national construction boom. Elsewhere in Asia, the report notes a drop in housing prices in China due to oversupply while in Japan, large construction companies saw a 17% increase in orders in November 2014 compared to the previous month.

Elsewhere, the report projects a decrease in window and door markets in Europe and notes a drop in plywood imports of almost a third between September and October 2014, although annual imports remain only 1% lower than the same period in 2013.

Finally, the TTM launched price indices charts for a limited number of wood and timber products that will be a regular feature of the report.

In addition to the headline stories, the report contains tropical timber market reports from Brazil, China, Ghana, Guyana, India, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, Myanmar and Peru. The report further recounts regional tropical timber market statistics from Central and West Africa, Europe and North America.

The TTM is published through the ITTO Market Information Service (MIS). [Publication: Tropical Timber Market Report – Volume 19 Number 1]