KUCHING: European Union 27 member nations (EU27) have raised the imports of tropical wood and wooden furniture by nine per cent to 770,800 tonnes in first half of 2025 (1H2025) from a year ago.
In terms of value, this also rose by nine per cent to US$1.66 billion during the same period.
In second quarter of 2025 (2Q2025), the European bloc recorded a six per cent increase in imports of the products to 396,000 tonnes as compared to 2Q2024.
However, the import volume in 2Q2025 was still well below the long-term quarterly average of around 450,000 tonnes in the last decade, according to International Tropical Timber Organisation (ITTO) Tropical Timber Market Report (September 16-30, 2025).
In 1H2025, the EU27 imported 168,900 tonnes of wooden furniture valued at US$723 million from tropical countries, up 11 per cent in volume and 13 per cent in value as compared to 1H2024.
Import value of wooden furniture climbed from all major supply countries: Vietnam (+19% to US$348.2 million), Indonesia (+12% to US$180.9 million), India (+4% to US$128.2 million), Malaysia (+2% to US$45.6 million), Thailand (+58% to US$11.3 million) and Mexico (+7% to US$1.8 million).
In contrast, the bloc imports of wooden furniture fell by one per cent to US$4.3 million from the Philippines.
On tropical sawnwood, the EU27 paid one per cent more to US$372.2 million to import 356,100 cubic metres (cu m) in 1H2025 from a year ago. Imports were down from Malaysia (-10% to 29,500 cu m), Cameroon (top supplier) (-7% to 123,100 cu m), the Republic of Congo (-3% to 32,100 cu m) and Ecuador (-26% to 8,200 cu m).
However, these declines were offset by rising imports from Brazil (+28% to 57,800 cu m), Gabon (+11% to 56,500 cu m), Ghana (+7% to 8,100 cu m), the Democratic Republic of Congo (+65% to 4,200 cu m) and Indonesia (+33% to 3,400 cu m).
In 1H2025, the EU27 import bill on 60,500 tonnes of tropical mouldings/decking was US$103.7 million, which was down four per cent in volume and six per cent in value as compared to 1H2024.
The decrease in imports was mainly due to a steep decline in shipments from Brazil (-19% to 18,100 tonnes) and Peru (-65% to 2,400 tonnes).
However, imports rose from Indonesia (+27% to 24,400 tonnes), Malaysia (+11% to 3,100 tonnes) and Bolivia (+13% to 2,800 tonnes).
On tropical logs, the European bloc recorded higher imports by five per cent to 20,900 tonnes valued at US$11.7 million (-3%) as compared to 1H2024.The rise in import volume was driven by sharp per cent increases from the Central African Republic (+52% to 6,500 cu m) and Liberia (+348% to 1,800 cu m).
However, imports from other African countries to fall due to tighter control on log exports. EU27 log imports were down from Cameroon (-7% to 2,900 cu m), Democratic Republic of Congo (-39% to 2,700 cu m) and Republic of Congo (-29% to 1,800 cu m).
The ITTO report said there were signs of recovery in EU imports of tropical veneer and plywood this year. In 1H2025, total imports of tropical veneer reached 125,900 cu n worth US$87.9 million, up five per cent and nine per cent respectively against that of 1H2024.
Shipment increased from No 1 supplier Gabon (+1% to 70,000 cu m), Cote d’Ivoire (+15% to 26,000 cu m), Cameroon (+23% to 13,200 cu m), United Kingdom (+5% to 4,000 cu m), Indonesia (+10% to 1,800 cu m) and Vietnam (+347% to 800 cu m).
However, EU27 reduced imports of tropical veneer from Republic of Congo (-&% to 5,300 cu m) and Ghana (-3% to 3,400 cu m) during the same period.
On tropical plywood, the EU27 paid US$103.6 million for the import of 150,400 cu m in 1H2025, which was up by 13 per cent in value and 19 per cent in volume as compared to that of 1H2024.
Imports increased from Indonesia (+11% to 36,900 cu m), Vietnam (+162% to 29,600 cu m), Ghana (+81% to 5,200 cu m) and Malaysia (+19% to 3,800 cu m).
However, these gains were partly offset by declining imports from Gabon (-3% to 28,800 cu m),China (-40% to 9,200 cu m),Morocco (-10% to 9,000 cu m) and UK (-14% to 3,200 cu m).
The European bloc also increased the imports of tropical joinery products, including wood flooring, by 65 per cent to 14,800 cu m worth US$37.5 million (+62%) from 1H2024. Shipments from Vietnam soared by 150 per cent to 5,600 tonnes, and from Malaysia surged by 38 per cent, also to 5,600 tonnes, recovering in the second quarter after a very slow start to the year. Imports also climbed from Indonesia (+27% to 2,100 tonnes), Thailand (+113% to 400 tonnes) and Cambodia (500 tonnes from near zero in 1H2024).
Malaysia also increased the exports of other joinery products – mainly laminated window scantlings, kitchen tops and wood doors — by 12 per cent to US$29.5 million year-on-year to EU27, which spent US$108.4 million for the imports of 48,700 tonnes, up 18 per cent in value and 20 per cent in volume. Malaysia was the No 2 supplier after Indonesia.
Imports also climbed from Indonesia (+28% to US$45.7 million), Vietnam (+23% to US$10.2 million), the Republic of Congo (+27% to US$7.8 million) and Cameroon (+98% to US$3 million).
However, EU27 import value of joinery products made from tropical wood was down 11 per cent to US$2.7 million from UK, and off 34 per cent to US$1.1 million from China.
