EU imports of Chinese plywood in trouble due to environmental controls

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ITTO/Fordaq
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Chinese plywood supply is reported by EU importers to be disrupted by tough new national environmental controls, which are forcing mills to interrupt production to upgrade or replace emission and waste treatment technology. Here prices are reported to have risen 10% in the last six months, ITTO reports.

“Inspectors have been visiting our Chinese supplier mills now for months, and we’ve seen regular stoppages as they improve their systems,” said one importer/distributor. “And recently there were more in Linyi and Pizhou.” “Stoppages also increased in Qingdao as part of the authorities moves to improve the local environment for June’s Shanghai Cooperation Organisation meeting,” said another leading EU importer.

Some European traders maintain that one reason for the pollution crackdown is to rationalise and concentrate the plywood industry, forcing smaller producers to close.

One European importer/distributor, however, insisted this was not the prime objective. “We visit regularly and are convinced it’s motivated by a genuine desire to reduce the industry’s environmental footprint and help meet climate change targets,” he said. Importers added that they generally back China’s action as underpinning its overall environmental credibility.

As for the situation with Russian hardwood plywood supplies to the EU, an importer summed it up as ‘more or less OK’. “But there have been some issues with a lack of trucking capacity,” he said.

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