Timber Supply in U.K. Finally Catching Up with Demand

According to the U.K.’s Timber Trades Federation’s (TTF) Nick Boulton, TTF’s head of technical and trade, “After a year of record production and nine months of near record structural softwood imports it is highly likely the UK is at a point where there is sufficient volume of wood at UK ports and in the UK timber supply chain to satisfy construction demand.”

In a market statement released by the TTF, it was revealed that more than seven million m3 of timber and panel products were imported by the UK between January and July. This is nearly two million m3 above the same period in 2020, and half a million m3 above 2019 levels — the UK’s last ‘regular year’ before COVID-19 — which is about an 8% increase.

Boulton went onto say, “These shortages are of high concern to the timber supply chain as while there may now be enough timber in the UK to meet demand it does little good to anyone when there are no means to transport stock from ports to warehouses or customers.”

Boulton added, “The challenges posed by these shortages are being felt right across the UK economy, and as discussed in our Market Statement, you can view their impact in the latest statistics coming out from the construction sector with growth shown to be tailing off in June and July. Despite these challenges, we are confident the timber supply chain can continue to rise to meet the growing demand for sustainable, low-carbon construction materials we are seeing in the market – as it has done so for the past 20 months. As a low-carbon, and crucially — amidst a looming global energy crisis — low-energy construction material, timber is likely to grow as the material of choice among climate conscious architects, engineers, developers and planners in the UK.”