Australia, one of the world’s largest wood chip exporters, increased its chip shipments in 2013 after a ten-year low in 2012, reports the Wood Resource Quarterly. In the 1Q/14, shipments were close to the highest since 2010 thanks to high demand from China.

North American shipments of wood pellets over the Atlantic continued to go up in the 2Q/13 with volumes more than double those in the 2Q/11, according to data compiled by the North American Wood Fiber Review. Shipments to the major consumer in Europe, the United Kingdom, are likely to decline in the coming year because of the closure of a major biomass plant in the UK.

Higher lumber consumption in the US has resulted in both increased domestic production and a rise in importation of lumber in 2013, reports the Wood Resource Quarterly. Total production in North America was up almost seven percent from January through July this year compared to 2012, and imports from Canada and overseas jumped 18% during the same period.

Wood chip and pulplog prices fell in many regions of the world the 2Q/13 with the biggest declines occuring in Japan, Brazil and Spain, reports the Wood Resource Quarterly. Lower fiber costs and higher pulp prices have increased profitability for many pulp mills during the first half of 2013.

Wood pellet exports from North America were up over 50% in the 1Q/13 from 1Q/12 with the United Kingdom being the major export destination, reports the North American Wood Fiber Review

The slowing economy in China has reduced the importation of logs from New Zealand, Russia and the US by about 15 percent during the first six months of 2012. Prices for imported and domestic softwood logs in China have fallen this year by 14 percent and 10 percent, respectively as reported in the Wood Resource Quarterly.