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According to customs data statistics, approximately four fifths of the global wood chip trade each year is made of hardwood chips, mainly shipped to the Asian market. Customs data shows that in the past decade, with the expansion of China's pulp production capacity and the lack of domestic wood fiber, it can be said that China is the main force driving global wood chip trade.

According to customs data, in 2022, due to the impact of high global inflation and domestic epidemic lockdowns, orders in China's timber industry were forced to significantly decrease, and the market environment was not optimistic. However, according to recent reports, the import of hardwood chips from China in 2022 increased by 18.8% year-on-year (2.78 million tons). Vietnam remains the main source of Chinese wood chip imports.

Customs data shows the import situation of wood chips in 2022

Vietnam: The amount of wood chips from Vietnam increased by 18.5% year-on-year, reaching 10.532 million tons.

Australia: The amount of wood chips from Australia increased by 25.8% year-on-year, reaching 3.175 million tons.

Thailand: Although the quantity of wood chips from Thailand is not as high as Vietnam, it has also increased by nearly double compared to the same period last year.

Chile: The amount of wood chips from Chile has decreased.

Market Forecast for 2023

In 2023, under the new epidemic prevention and control policies, the situation in the Chinese market has improved, and with the development of the pulp industry, China's demand for wood chips will not decrease.

In the three years since the outbreak of the epidemic, the quantity of wood chips exported from Vietnam to China has been steadily increasing, so it is expected that Vietnam will remain the main market for Chinese wood chip imports in 2023.

According to customs data, nearly 2.7 million hectares of forest land in Chile were burned down in February this year, and many local wood processing plants were forced to stop working. It is expected that the wood chips exported from Chile to China this year will continue to decrease, and the eucalyptus chips from Brazil may replace Chile's market share.