There are no signs that the planned Russian timber duty increase to 50 euros per cubic meter from 1 January 2011 will be postponed said the Swedish Minister for Trade Ewa Björling when she spoke to the Swedish news agency Direkt.
U.S. is not happy with BC's underpriced lumber exports
The United States has requested consultation with Canada under the Softwood Lumber Agreement. At issue is the apparent unfair under-pricing of timber harvested from public lands in the Interior region of British Columbia.
Sweden: log and wood chip prices have increased substantially the past 12 months
Seattle, USA. September, 2010. Despite slower lumber export sales, sawlog prices in Sweden continued upward in the 2Q, reaching their highest levels on record in local currency.
According to the office of Customs Tariff Commission of the State Council, China had decided to remove tariffs on 4,762 commodities imported from 33 of the world’s Least Developed Countries (LDCs). Commodities with zero tariffs include wood products. The zero tariff treatment came into effect on 1 July 2010.
The countries involved are 26 African countries and 7 other countries, including Ethiopia, Benin, Burundi, Equatorial Guinea, Maldives, Nepal and Bangladesh.
Due to the global recession that began in the second half of 2008, China’s total log imports declined in 2009 to 28.1 million m3 (-5.1%). The unexpected turnaround in the Chinese economy, starting in Q2/2009, significantly moderated the falling trend in Chinese log import volumes for the year. China’s log imports were valued at about US$4.1 billion, down 21% by value from 2008. reports International Wood Markets Group, The total decrease in log imports from 2007 to 2009 was a whopping nine million m3 - a staggering 24%.
NZ forestry production and trade data for the March 2010 quarter is now available on the web. Details can be found at address below*. Key points - compared with the same quarter of the previous year (March 2009) are;
April 2010 was a month where record volumes of pinus radiata logs were shipped out of New Zealand. The vast majority were headed for Asia where other suppliers such as the USA and Canada, are also ramping up supply.
Govt to remove tax on log products: forestry minister
Forestry Ministry Zulkifli Hasan said the Finance Ministry had agreed to proposals to remove value-added tax (VAT) imposed on log products.
He claimed former finance minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati had signed a proposal to cancel the tax when she was in the office.
“[Mulyani] agreed to cancel VAT for log products. The regulation will take effect this month. This is good as it will not burden industries because raw materials were not supposed to be taxed,” he said Sunday.
