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Malaysia leads plywood exports to the United States mongabay.com August 8, 2006 Malaysia is the leading volume supplier of tropical plywood to the United States according to the July 15-31 Tropical Timber Market Report from the International Tropical Timber Organization (ITTO). In terms of volume of plywood exports to the U.S., China (404,141 cubic meters) and Indonesia (380,616 cubic meters) were ranked second and third, respectively. According to the ITTO report, China is sending more plywood made from meranti -- an emergent forest tree from the tropical forests of Asia -- that ever before. Chinese shipments of the hardwood to the U.S. surged 7,800 percent between 2001 and 2005. With some of the lowest prices in the industry -- $288 per cubic meter versus an overall average price of $311.8 per cubic meter, China's market share for plywood imports to America has increased from 4 percent in 2001 to over one-quarter in 2005. In terms of value of exports to the United States, Indonesia ($158.63 million in export value) tops the list due to its high plywood prices which stand at $416 per cubic meter -- well above the $360 average. Malaysia ($145.29 million), China ($127.48 million), and Brazil ($50.58 million) follow. RELATED Japan depletes Borneo's rainforests; China remains largest log importer Almost three quarters of Japan's tropical timber imports come from the endangered rainforests of Borneo according to figures from the International Tropical Timber Organization (ITTO). Meanwhile, ITTO says that China remains, by a large margin, the largest consumer of tropical logs. China's timber imports surge in 2006 According to China Customs, China's timber imports surged during the first quarter of 2006. Log imports increased 18 percent to 8.1 million cubic meters. China customs valued these imports at $897.42 million. News index | RSS | News Feed Advertisements: Organic Apparel from Patagonia | Insect-repelling clothing |
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