Before its log export ban, Myanmar was a major source of tropical logs for China. However, China’s log imports from Myanmar in the first half of 2019 fell to just 6,865 cubic metres valued at US$8.4 million, down year on year by 36% in volume and 44% in value.

The average price for imported logs from Myanmar in the first half of 2019 was US$1,224 per cubic metre, down 10% year on year.

The average price for imported tropical logs in the first half of 2019 was US$330 per cubic metre, a year on year rise of 6%. China imported tropical logs mainly from Papua New Guinea (27%), Solomon Islands (23%), Equatorial Guinea (14%), the Republic of Congo (9%) and Cameroon (7%).

Just 10 countries supplied 90% of China’s tropical log requirements in the first half of 2019.

Tropical log imports from Gambia and the Republic of Congo surged 344% and 61% respectively. Countries from which tropical log imports declined greatly included Mozambique (-42%), Sierra Leone (-32%), Cameroon (-21%), Ghana (-19%) and Suriname (-16%).