(Business in Cameroon) - European Union (EU) countries imported 582,500 metric tons of tropical timber in the first nine months of 2019, according to the International Tropical Timber Organization (ITTO). According to the organization, these shipment, up by 7%, year-on-year amounted to €558 million (about XAF366 billion).
This increase in European imports of sawn timber between January and September 2019 is attributable to the dynamism of Cameroonian wood exporters who shipped 209,000 metric tons of sawn timber to the European Union, according to official sources.
According to ITTO, these exports are up by 11% compared to the same period in 2018, when “imports from Cameroon [were] particularly low.”
Cameroon was thus the leading supplier of these types of wood to the EU during the period under review, by supplying around 35% of the total volume imported by EU countries.
The country is followed by Brazil whose sawn timber exports increased by 30% over the period under review. Gabon follows, with an 8% increase in its sawn timber exports to EU countries.
The top 5 is completed by Malaysia, despite a 28% decline in its exports, and Congo, whose sawn timber shipments to the EU increased by 32% over the said period.
Brice R. Mbodiam