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"Unable to accept new bookings", "There are no empty containers this week, wait for next week"... Staring at the container information in the "shipping company WeChat group" on the mobile phone, the timber importer Chen Ying was somewhat helpless.

"I have no rice to cook in the face of customer orders." Chen Ying's timber import trading company in Dongguan, Guangdong, has long imported logs or boards such as hedgehog red sandalwood and rosewood from African countries. She told reporters, "Before the outbreak, the company had monthly The purchase volume of about a hundred cabinets has gradually decreased after the outbreak, and it has not been a single cabinet for 3 months."

my country is the world's largest timber importer. After the Spring Festival, the "price increase and shortage" situation of imported timber continued to intensify. There are many timber import trading companies that resemble Chen Ying's "difficult to find one cabinet" situation.

Chen Ying showed reporters the empty photos of many wooden farms she took in Xinhui, the capital of Chinese classical furniture. She said that this round of increase in imported timber prices and supply shortages was "unprecedented" in her ten-year career. In order to grab the supply, Chen Ying has recently sent employees to Sierra Leone, West Africa, where the supply is sourced, to "grab the goods."

"The world is'buying for goods.' Affected by the epidemic, foreign timber felling and board production have declined, and raw materials are already tight; coupled with the reduction of international shipping schedules, the efficiency of customs clearance due to the epidemic has decreased, and many containers have accumulated in ports and ports of various countries. , Resulting in tight container sources and rising sea freight prices.” said Hang Dong, director of the International Timber Professional Committee of the Furniture Association of Nankang District, Ganzhou City, Jiangxi Province.

Nankang is the capital of solid wood furniture in China, and 95% of its annual wood consumption depends on internationally imported wood. Ganzhou Feishang Supply Chain Management Co., Ltd. is a company that focuses on providing services such as procurement agency and freight forwarding for timber companies. The person in charge told the reporter: "The cost of timber logistics has risen sharply. A 40-foot standard container was returned from Finland. Sea freight is normally between US$1100 and US$1,200, but now it has risen to US$3,500; if it comes back from Southeast Asia, the logistics cost has risen from US$200 to US$1,000 to US$1,000, and there may not be a cabinet."

In contrast to the lack of supply, the global demand for wood has increased. According to industry analysis, there are several main reasons for the increase in demand: First, the timber inventory of domestic timber companies and furniture companies decreased last year, and the demand increased; second, some tree species were listed as logging bans and export bans by more and more countries. Directory; Third, the European and American real estate market is strong, and the demand for wood is increasing.

The supply of goods is small, the demand is large, the freight is high, and the price of imported wood is rising rapidly.

Hang Dong said: "It started to rise in the middle of last year. After the Spring Festival this year, the increase has been even more severe. Take European spruce as an example, the price of the same period last year was US$200 to US$220 per cubic meter. The U.S. dollar has doubled; the price of logs per cubic meter has risen from 99 euros to 160 euros now, an increase of more than 60%."

The current prices of African hedgehog red sandalwood and rosewood have also doubled year-on-year, and this year they have "soared" after the Spring Festival. Jiangxi Jiaxian Furniture Co., Ltd. has been engaged in the production of mahogany furniture for many years. General Manager Xie Binfei told reporters: "The hedgehog red sandalwood with good quality was around 11,000 yuan per ton before, but now the ones with poor quality are more than 15,000 yuan."

The situation of "increased prices and shortages" of imported timber has a great impact on downstream industries. my country is highly dependent on imported wood, and industries such as wooden doors, flooring, and furniture rely heavily on imported wood. In 2020, my country's solid wood furniture industry will account for 44% of imported wood.

Cai Deyu, deputy director of the Industrial Division of the Jiangxi Provincial Forestry Department, introduced that due to the large proportion of medium and young forests in my country and the unreasonable tree species structure, domestic furniture materials generally use imported wood with more suitable density and texture.

“Once the timber traders get the profits, it’s okay for the downstream enterprises.” Chen Ying’s imported timber has been sold to furniture factories in Guangdong, Fujian, Zhejiang and other places for a long time. She said: “Currently, small and medium-sized solid wood furniture factories at least Nearly 50% have ceased production or closed down."

"The furniture industry is facing a'death contest' between profits and rising prices of raw materials." An industry insider said.