According to the 2023 Facts and Figures on Global Forest Products, released by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), international trade in wood and paper products recorded a sharp decline compared to at unprecedented levels in 2021 and 2022.
“Trade in wood and paper products in the world fell by 12%: in 2023, the value of exports stood at 482 billion USD, a decline of 64 billion,” announced the UN institution in the 2023 edition of its report.
Paper trade continues to decline under pressure from digital media
The international organization notes, however, that “these figures remain higher than the record value of international trade dating from before 2021”, while the commercial value has decreased more quickly than the quantities exchanged. Which, according to the FOA’s explanations, reflects a decline in the prices of forest products in 2023, in a context of a general slowdown in economic growth.
In its report, the institution also highlights that paper trade continues to decline under pressure from digital media. Indeed, “as digital media continue to replace the written press, global production of paper and cardboard has fallen by 3%,” she explained.
For the Director of the FAO Forestry Division, Zhimin Wu, “we are seeing a combination of factors: production and trade are declining due to a global destabilization of the supply chain, a slowdown in demand and trade restrictions, combined with a longer-term decline which particularly affects the production and trade of paper in the world, under the effect of the progression of digital technology.
According to the report, in 2023, the data collected shows that the production and trade of most major wood products declined globally, with the exception of wood-based panels, the production of which increased. recorded marginal growth.
Concerning industrial roundwood intended for use other than energy, its extraction on a global scale fell by 4% to stand at 1.92 billion m3; while international trade fell by 13% to reach 100 million m3 (the lowest since 2009).
When it comes to sawn timber, figures show a decline in production in all five regions of the world over the past year. According to the FAO, “global sawn timber production fell by 4% to 445 million m3 (the lowest since 2014), and the contraction in international trade was twice as significant: 129 million m3 of sawn timber were traded, a drop of 8 percent (the lowest since 2014).”
As for wood-based panels, analysis of the figures shows an increase in global production of only 1% to reach 381 million m3. The organization explains this variation by the increase in production in the Asia and Pacific region, which offset the decrease in other regions.
The institution notes, however, that “international trade in wood-based panels has seen a downward trend, like other products: it stood at 84 million m3 (the lowest since 2016) , a decrease of 7%.
In its report, the FAO also announces that global production of wood pulp fell by 2% and fell to 193 million tonnes, while trade in wood pulp, on the other hand, recorded growth of 3% to reach the record level of 71 million tonnes.
According to her, in 2023, global paper production fell by 3% to stand at 401 million tonnes just as trade fell by 7% to reach 104 million tonnes, the highest level low since 2010.
At the same time, global production of graphic paper fell by 9% while other types of paper and board recorded a lesser decline, of 3%, as production of graphic paper reached its lowest level since 1987: 84 million tonnes.
Mainly driven by demand induced by bioenergy targets established by countries, production has recorded a remarkable increase in recent decades. “However, growth was interrupted for the first time in 2023, which resulted in a decline in production (2%) and trade (5%),” noted the organization, noting that the Global production reached 47 million tonnes over the last year.
Finally, the first published data on engineered wood products show that in 2023, global production of veneer laminated wood, glued laminated wood and cross-laminated wood reached 4 million m3 respectively, of which 1 million of m3 exported, 7 million m3 (2 million m3 exported) and 1 million m3 (0.6 million m3 exported). As for the production of beams, it amounted to 1 million tonnes, of which 0.3 million tonnes were exported.
Alain Bouithy
