softwood luber

German sawmills dominate market in India

During January-July 2016, total import of softwood lumber in India,  was equal to 252 000 m³. Among India’s main trading partners in North America and Europe, Germany become a dominant market player in India, with a share equal to almost 70%. 


The import of softwood lumber in India remained on the same level as in 2015 (around 252-253 thousands m³). Nevertheless, Germany proved to be a main market player on this market, and compared with January-July 2015, the import from Germany increased by nearly 30%, i.e. from 133 to 172 thousands m³ (see table below).

India's import of softwood lumber. Source: Woodstat, 2016.
India’s import of softwood lumber. Source: Woodstat, 2016.

Jenny Wessung, CEO at Woodstat AB, said:

“This is an impressive development. If we look at the figures in detail, we can see that leading exporters like U.S., Canada, Russia and Austria delivered clearly lower volumes this year”

A Figure below presents how Germany have started to dominate India’s market since 2012, with many fluctuations. After recent developments, the market share for German sawmills increased from 53% to 68%.

Monthly import of softwood lumber to India. Source: Woodstat, 2016.
Monthly import of softwood lumber to India. Source: Woodstat, 2016.

Source: Woodstat. 2016. German sawmills leading exporters to India. 

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