EU plywood importers report that in the latter part of the year, the plywood market started to turn around and become more volatile.

“We saw the Turkish economy slow dramatically, with construction particularly hard hit, and several of their big name companies seeking court bankruptcy protection,” said a continental importer. “As a result Russian birch ply, in particular, that would have been destined for Turkey, was pushed into other markets, including Germany.

“At the same time, the Middle East started to slow down. Following the buoyant international market in the first half of the year, however, plywood production was still high and given an added boost by rising availability of logs in China, Indonesia and Malaysia,” said another plywood specialist European imports also initially remained strong, they added, with contributory factors including importers placing big orders for the next duty-free quota.