Total UK timber and panel product imports reached 9.1 million m³ in 2025, representing a 2.2% decline compared with 2024, according to the latest Timber Development UK (TDUK) figures. While the overall figure indicates a reduction in volumes, the data also highlights a number of areas where imports grew during the year.
Demand for timber products has remained relatively subdued over the past four years, and the 2025 figures show the lowest annual import volumes for around a decade. Imports during Q4 2025 were also lower than in the same period of 2024, although they remained stronger than the fourth quarters recorded in both 2022 and 2023.
Softwood continues to dominate UK timber imports, accounting for around 61% of total import volumes in 2025. Total softwood imports reached 5.55 million m³, a fall of 4% compared with the 5.78 million m³ imported in 2024. This reduction was largely due to lower shipments from Sweden, Germany and the Irish Republic. These declines were partly offset by increases from Latvia and Finland in particular.
Despite the fall in volumes, the value of softwood imports increased by 8% during the year, driven by higher prices. The average price of imported softwood increased to £289 per m³ in 2025, compared with £256 per m³ in 2024.
Within the softwood mix, redwood values increased, while whitewood values fell compared with the previous year. TDUK's softwood price index to date has been based exclusively on whitewood timbers, however, from 2026 the organisation will be including a proportion of redwood timbers in its structural price index figures to reflect the changes happening in the whitewood/redwood mix.
Hardwood imports remained broadly stable, with volumes reaching 431,000m³ in 2025 – a 1.7% decline compared with 438,000m³ in 2024. Tropical hardwood imports experienced a larger reduction of 9.7%, while temperate hardwood imports declined by 3.9%. In contrast, imports of mixed hardwood species increased by 10%, reaching 115,000m³.
The USA, Latvia and France all increased their hardwood volumes supplied to the UK market, while Estonia, Romania and the Republic of Congo supplied less timber during the year. Cameroon remained the largest single source of tropical hardwoods.
The annual average price of hardwood imports in 2025 was marginally higher than in 2024 at £768/m3, up by 0.4% from £764/m3 in 2024. This overall marginal increase resulted from a 1.6% rise in tropical prices, a 3.5% rise in the main temperate species and 2.3% drop in the average price of mixed hardwoods.
Plywood imports recorded one of the strongest performances of any product group in 2025. Total plywood imports increased by 10.1%, reaching 1.32 million m³, compared with 1.199 million m³ in 2024. Hardwood plywood imports rose by 7.1%, driven largely by higher shipments from China and Malaysia. Softwood plywood imports increased even more strongly, rising by 18.1% during the year to 389,000m³ due to higher volumes from Brazil and China.
Particleboard imports also performed well in 2025, increasing by 10.1% to 637,000m³. France and Germany remained the largest suppliers to the UK market, while Spain and Luxembourg also increased shipments.
Imports of oriented strand board remained broadly unchanged during the year. OSB imports increased slightly by 0.3%, reaching 453,000m³, compared with 452,000m³ in 2024. At the same time, the value of OSB imports increased by 6.2%. In contrast, MDF import volumes fell by 23%, dropping from 706,000m³ in 2024 to 544,000m³ in 2025, while the value of MDF imports also declined.
Several engineered wood products recorded strong growth in 2025. Imports of laminated veneer lumber increased by 17.4%, while glue laminated timber imports rose by 9.7% and I-beam imports increased by 10.3%. Imports of cross laminated timber declined by 23.6% compared with 2024.
Although 2025 recorded the lowest overall import volumes for many years, the statistics suggest that the market may be approaching a turning point. Early forecasts indicate that softwood import volumes could rise by around 3.7% in 2026, potentially returning volumes to approximately 5.8 million m³, as confidence begins to improve in the housing and construction sectors.
Nick Boulton, Head of Technical and Trade Policy at Timber Development UK, said: “While total timber import volumes fell slightly in 2025, the figures show that the picture across the sector is mixed. Much of the reduction in overall volume was driven by lower softwood and MDF imports, while several other product categories, such as Particleboard and a number of engineered wood products, recorded strong growth during the year. This highlights continued demand in certain parts of the market even while overall construction activity remains subdued.
“The figures also confirm that hardwood plywood imports increased substantially, but further work may be required to consider what the reasons for that may be. It’s possible that this change could, in part, be the result of anti-dumping legislation that the EU brought in last year against hardwood plywood from China. It is also possible that some of this increase could be conflict timbers in the form of Birch Plywood entering the market from Russia through third countries.
“As always, we would urge our members and the wider industry to use all caution and take advantage of TDUK due diligence and responsible sourcing policy resources to make sure the timbers they purchase comply with all relevant EU and UK regulations.”
