US hardwood plywood imports hit the lowest level in 14 years

The poplar plywood business remained weak on European sales markets in the first quarter of 2023. For the first time in a long while, manufacturers had been prepared to make price concessions in November because of the slump in demand seen since the middle of last year. Along with cutting their prices, plywood mills...

In spite of pronounced losses in the second half of the year, US hardwood plywood imports in 2022 remained higher than those in the previous year. The increase of 6% to 3.670m m³ (2021: 3.462m m³) is due above all to the 13% higher imports from Southeast Asia to 2.323m m³ (2.056m m³). The growth in these in 2021 (+35%)...

During past weeks, Central European importers have been ordering larger volumes of birch plywood for the first time in a considerable period. Until recently, they had been generally holding back on new orders due to persistently weak demand. Customers had instead been supplied from stocks accumulated before the EU...