In 2003, the timber industry sold 17.5 million cubic metres of sawn timber and sheet materials to UK customers. The UK is a major timber importing country. More than 2/3 of its consumption of timber products is covered by imports. The by far biggest share on timber imports is softwood from Scandinavia and the Baltics for construction purposes. Hardwoods for e.g. interior design, furniture or window frames, to the majority originate from Western and Eastern European countries and North America. Tropical timber covers a niche market for special purposes products, for instance marine constructions and high-value interiors, but is also being used as plywood.

As to the ‘sustainability’ of the UK timber imports, the European countries and North America do have a long tradition in sustainable forest management and high standards of environmental protection. In addition, the quality of the forest management of a big part of its forest resources is independently certified (click on Certified Area by Country).

Currently much more certified timber is entering the UK market than is actually sold with a Forest Certification label to the end consumer. This is due to still not enough developed Chain of Custody certification, a major condition to label forest certification on the end product. Read more

There are some countries though, where the timber trade needs to take additional action to assure that the imported products are sustainable. This is sometimes the case if a supply country is threatened by a general weak rule of law, corruption or insecure land tenure rights, and fails to prove the environmental quality of its products to a degree that satisfies the UK market. Please visit Responsible Timber Purchasing, Private Sector Initiatives, Procurement Guidelines and Illegal Logging to read how this is being addressed.