US Dollar Exchange Rates of 14th July 2006
China Yuan 7.998
Report from China
Unrelenting surge in China¡¯s plywood exports
Chinese plywood exports have been expanding rapidly in the last few years. Plywood exports
more than doubled from 2 million m3 in 2003 to 4.2 million m3 in 2004 and rose 29% to 5.4
million m3 in 2005, according to Hongfan Li, President of China Wood International.
Jiangsu Province accounted for the bulk of the exports in 2004. The USA was the top export
market with 34% of the exports while Japan accounted for 8%.
Zhangjiagang Port handles more timber imports
According to Zhangjiagang customs statistics, timber imports (mainly logs) through
Zhangjiagang Port reached 992,000 m3 worth $224 million during January to May 2006, up 37%
and 56%, respectively, from the same period last year. Main sources of imports were Africa
(494,000 m3, accounting for 50%), PNG (330,000 m3, 33%) and Malaysia (153,000 m3, 15%).
Timber imports from Africa featured many batches with small volume
of high-value logs per batch. There were new African log species such as parinari, koto,
eveuss and sorro. African logs included rotary timber (e.g., 167,000 m3 of okoume) and
timber for furniture and flooring manufacturing (e.g., 80,000 m3 of okan). Some African
species had been substituting merbau for flooring manufacturing due to the declining
availability of this species in Southeast Asia. Log imports from PNG rose 29% and included
species such as taun, bintangor, ter and mal, and an increasing demand for dil and kam. A
Shenzhen company imported 12 containers (295 m3) of
18 species of logs from Suriname, including tamarind angelim (Marmaroxylon racemosum),
tauari and ipe. These precious species were mainly used for high-grade furniture, solid
flooring, carving craftwork and musical instruments.
Eastern region is China¡¯s largest furniture exporter
China¡¯s furniture exports (including wooden, metal, plastic and glass
furniture) reached $13.77 billion in 2005, up 33% from 2004. There were 206 export
destination countries and regions. The figure below shows that Guangdong furniture exports
accounted for the largest proportion of the national total (40%) in 2005. Five eastern
provinces (Zhejiang, Shanghai, Jiangsu, Fujian and Shandong) accounted for another 50% of
the exports. Furniture exports from Zhejiang, Shanghai and Jiangsu were growing faster
than Guangdong¡¯s.
The next figure shows that the main export markets in 2005 were
the USA (48%), Asia (25%, of which Hong Kong SAR 9% and Japan 8%) and Europe (19%).
IKEA builds largest furniture making base in China
IKEA Furniture manufacturing Co., Ltd is building in Dalian a $20 million furniture
manufacturing base, its largest in China. The base is expected to start operating in
September 2006 with an annual output of $30 million, mainly of middle and high-end tables
and chairs, 90% of which will be for the export market. China is IKEA¡¯s
largest market with production bases in Tianjin, Shanghai and Chengdu.
กก |
