Forestry: How should we react to timber imports hitting 2024 high?

This piece is an extract from our A View from the Forest (previously Forestry Features) newsletter, which is emailed out at 4PM every Wednesday with a round-up of the week's top stories. 

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THE funny thing about the wood-based industry is that every story is received differently depending on your perspective.

For some, news that UK imports of timber hit a 2024 high in May – while still trailing 2023 levels – will have been most welcome, a sign of the value being placed on its use in construction. For others (probably an overwhelming proportion of you reading this), it will have been about as welcome as a punch in the face from Tyson Fury.

But that's exactly how many of you will have felt as it emerged a total of 897,000m3 of timber was brought into the UK that month, short of the 969,000m3 seen in May 2023.

That timber imports are approximately 4 per cent down year-on-year across the whole of 2024 so far was viewed in worrying terms by some quarters of the timber-based sector.

"The sluggish construction sector as a whole has clearly had an impact on timber imports and sales to date this year," said Nick Boulton, head of technical and trade at TDUK, the organisation behind the import figures.

For many others, the fact the UK is importing 81 per cent of its wood (third only behind China and the USA in terms of its net-import levels), remains a blight on the country.

But think how differently it could be.

The new Labour government has been bold in its promise of building 1.5 million homes across the UK. Many influential members within it have also pledged to support the Timber in Construction Roadmap, which was outlined last year by the previous Conservative administration.

Could prime minister Keir Starmer oversee a timber revolution in the UK's construction sector? (Image: Ben Birchall)

"I hope this publication supports the production and use of our home-grown timber whilst boosting associated jobs throughout the country," wrote then forestry minister Rebecca Pow in its foreward. "I look forward to seeing an increasing number of timber framed homes, public buildings and offices being built into the future."

And who could argue with that?