Timber imports nudge upwards: pricing, supply shifts and 2026 outlook for project teams
Reviewed by Tom Sullivan
First reported on The Construction Index
30 Second Briefing
Timber imports into the UK reached 7.01m m³ in January–September 2025, 2.1% below 2024, with Q3 volumes only 0.2% down year-on-year as contractors restocked after strong Q2 construction activity. Softwood volumes fell nearly 3% but values rose 9% on a 12% price increase, while imported MDF slumped 25%, offset by gains in hardwood, particleboard, OSB, hardwood and softwood plywood, and engineered wood, including Finnish LVL up about 14% and still 83% of the UK market. Supply shifted away from Sweden, Germany and Ireland towards Latvia and Finland, and NSD forecasts softwood imports down 3% in 2025 before a 3.7% rebound in 2026.
Technical Brief
- MDF imports dropped 25% year-on-year, materially tightening supply for panel-based fit-out and joinery packages.
- Solid wood imports January–September 2025 were 2.5% lower, while panel products fell only 1.3%.
- Reduced Swedish softwood volumes exceeded the total year-to-date deficit of 118,000 m³, concentrating sourcing risk.
- German and Irish softwood supplies declined 9% and 14% respectively, shifting procurement away from traditional European mills.
- Latvia and Finland together added over 90,000 m³ of softwood, partly backfilling Nordic and Irish reductions.
- Softwood import values rose 9% overall, with sawn goods up 11% and planed sections up 8%.
- Average softwood import prices increased 12% over 12 months, while sawn hardwood and plywood prices trended down.
- Shifts in species mix and origin imply changing structural properties, durability classes and certification profiles for UK timber design.
Our Take
With UK softwood import volumes forecast at 5.62–5.83 million m³ for 2025–26 but values already up 9–11%, contractors and timber frame manufacturers are likely to feel cost pressure even if physical supply remains adequate.
China and Malaysia supplying around 80% of UK hardwood plywood imports leaves specifiers exposed to any future tightening of EU/UK due-diligence rules on Asian panels, which could push more projects towards OSB or European-sourced engineered wood products.
Finland’s 83% share of the UK LVL market, combined with 14% growth in Finnish LVL volumes, signals that UK structural designers are consolidating around a narrow supplier base for engineered wood, which may simplify design data but increases exposure to a single regional price and logistics risk.
Prepared by collating external sources, AI-assisted tools, and Geomechanics.io’s proprietary mining database, then reviewed for technical accuracy & edited by our geotechnical team.
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