(1) Major importing countries
As the world's largest timber importer, imported timber is the main source of my country's timber demand, especially after my country completely stopped commercial logging of natural forests in 2017, providing huge growth space for imported timber. As an indispensable material resource in the national economy, wood has now risen to the field of national strategic materials. Therefore, it is necessary to understand the main sources of imported wood in my country.
my country now imports a large amount of beech, ash, and sylvestris pine from Russia.
Import large quantities of radiata pine boards or radiata pine logs from Australia (New Zealand and Australia), South America (Chile, Brazil, Argentina, etc.).
Import rubberwood and rosewood from Thailand, Indonesia, and Vietnam.
Import a large amount of birch and spruce from Nordic countries such as Germany, Finland, Sweden, Romania, etc.
A large number of white pine, oak, black walnut, cherry wood, etc. are imported from the United States and Canada. For example, the American white moth, which has been rampant for a long time, is caused by importing white pine logs from the United States, and the inspection is not enough.
Import a large amount of rosewood and hardwood from Africa (Cameroon, Gabon, Ecuador, etc.), and also import rosewood and hardwood from Myanmar and Cambodia. There are also many domestic bosses who open rosewood factories in Myanmar.
(2) Circulation of imported timber
Imported timber can be roughly divided into two categories, one is imported timber from Russia, which is mainly transported by rail. Russia is rich in forest resources, borders China, and is connected by railways. In particular, Russia's main timber-producing areas (Far East and Siberia) are close to China, and the cost of railway transportation is relatively low, so it has become the main source of imported timber in my country. In 2021, Russia Timber accounted for 35.4% of the total imported timber in my country. At present, Russian logs or sawn timber mainly enter the domestic market through Manzhouli, Erenhot, Alashankou, and Suifenhe. Among them, Manzhouli has become the largest import port of Russian timber in my country, accounting for 44%. The domestic circulation of imported wood from Russia is also dominated by railway transportation, with a distance of thousands of kilometers, as far as Guangdong or southwest China.
The opening of the China-Europe Railway Express has provided a more convenient circulation channel for imported timber from Russia. All regions have built wood distribution centers and opened customized wood-based railways relying on the advantages of the China-Europe Railway Express. In 2018, the first China-Europe (Russia) timber train arrived in Wuwei, Gansu. It departed from Novosibirsk, Russia, passed through Krasnoyarsk, Russia, and transited the Republic of Kazakhstan. After changing outfits, reach Wuwei. Relying on the opened Russian timber logistics channel, Wuwei applied for the establishment of an inspection and quarantine supervision site for imported timber and built a northwest timber distribution center. Since March 2018, Chengdu International Railway Port has opened custom-made timber trains. As of May 2020, a total of 958 custom-made timber trains with 38,856 containers have been issued. At present, Chengdu International Railway Port has opened four trains in Manzhouli, Erenhot, Alashankou, and Suifenhe. A timber port-channel has been established, the China-Europe Railway Express (Chengdu) International Timber Distribution Center has been established, and a national-level timber price index has been released. A comprehensive platform for timber supply chain, providing China-Europe freight train (Chengdu) customized timber freight chain service. In addition, Shandong Rizhao, Jiangsu Xuzhou, etc., Hunan Changsha, Chongqing, and other places have also opened China-Europe freight trains. China has also increased the proportion of logs imported from countries with good political mutual trust such as Germany.
The other category is tropical timber and North American timber, which are mainly imported by sea, from north to south, including Port Lushun, Caofeidian, Yantai Port, Qingdao Port, Rizhao Port (Lanshan Port), Lianyungang, Zhangjiagang, and other imported timber throughput. Low, the transportation methods in domestic circulation include railway, highway, and waterway, but mainly water transportation, such as the transportation of timber in the golden waterway of the Yangtze River, mainly in Zhangjiagang port of Jiangsu Province, which is the largest seaborne timber import volume of tropical timber in my country The port of entry mainly imports tropical logs, and the bulk logs are mainly imported by sea. After arrival, the wholesalers in the mainland purchase the logs on the spot and then transport the logs (logs) to the secondary level by car or ship. Wholesale or retail market. In addition, some timber is transported by car through Yunnan border ports (Ruili, Tengchong, Yingjiang), such as tropical timber imported from Myanmar, transported by car to border ports such as Ruili, except for a small amount of on-site processing, In addition, the rest are transported by rail to South or East China for reprocessing. According to customs statistics, more than 90% of China's timber imports from Myanmar are imported through Yunnan land ports. Under the influence of the Sino-US trade war, my country's demand for North American timber has declined.
In addition, Hebei Caofeidian Port has been designated by the Canadian government as a designated port for outbound timber, and it is also the only timber entry port in Hebei Province; Shandong Qingdao Port has opened up a railway-sea intermodal timber train, which departs from St. Petersburg, Russia, and ships to Qingdao Port, and then Reaching the mainland via railway transportation, opening up a new land-sea channel for imported timber from sea to land;
Guangxi is also one of the important timber entry ports in Southwest my country, mainly from New Zealand, Thailand, Brazil, and other countries. With the implementation of the new western land-sea passage, Guangxi will become the main entry port for timber from ASEAN countries. In the future, with the deepening of the Belt and Road Initiative, there will be more and more China-Europe freight trains. During the acceleration of the China-Europe freight train, more timber passages will be opened. In 2019, from the perspective of the country composition of the source countries of my country's imported timber, the China-Europe freight train will become an important circulation channel for my country's imported timber, and promote changes in my country's international timber trade pattern and domestic timber circulation system.
