A Quick Insight into China’s 2025 Wood-Based Panel Trade Situation
China has long been a key player in the global building material production and trade. What was the status of China’s wood-based panel imports and exports in the 2025 market? The General Administration of Customs recently released a series of data.
In 2025, China’s total import and export volume of building material wood-based panel reached 21.407 million cubic meters (converted), a year-on-year increase of 6.62%, with a total import and export value of 7.638 billion US dollars, a year-on-year decrease of 2.84%. Specifically, China exported 20.048 million cubic meters (converted) of wood-based panel products, up 12.25% year-on-year, with an export value of 7.104 billion US dollars, a year-on-year increase of 2.53%. Imports of wood-based panel products stood at 1.359 million cubic meters (converted), a year-on-year decrease of 36.17%—the first decline in nearly six years—with an import value of 534 million US dollars, a year-on-year decrease of 3.92%.
For plywood products in 2025: China’s export volume was 13.573 million cubic meters, a year-on-year increase of 2.9%, and the export value was 5.169 billion US dollars, a year-on-year decrease of 1.9%. Imports of plywood products were 331,200 cubic meters, a sharp year-on-year drop of 58.08%, with an import value of 293 million US dollars, a year-on-year decrease of 31.98%. Among imports, plywood from Russia accounted for over 80% of the total. China’s plywood export destinations remained basically stable, with the top five being the Philippines, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), the United Kingdom, Saudi Arabia, and Nigeria. Taiwan, China, which ranked among the top five in 2024, fell to the 14th place, replaced by Nigeria in the top five.
Regarding fiberboard products in 2025: China exported approximately 4.975 million cubic meters (converted), a year-on-year surge of 29.89%, with an export value of 1.557 billion US dollars, a year-on-year increase of 14.49%. Imports of fiberboard products were about 83,000 cubic meters (converted), a year-on-year increase of 12.16%, while the import value was 43.82 million US dollars, a year-on-year decrease of 6.11%. The top five export destinations for fiberboard products remained stable: Vietnam, Saudi Arabia, Mexico, Nigeria, and the UAE.
A notable development in 2025 was that particleboard exports exceeded imports for the first time. China imported 944,400 cubic meters (converted) of particleboard products throughout the year, a year-on-year decrease of 25.16%, with an import value of 293 million US dollars, a significant year-on-year drop of 55.4%—both import volume and value declined. The top five sources of particleboard imports were Thailand, Brazil, Poland, Romania, and Germany, remaining basically stable. China’s particleboard exports reached 1.5 million cubic meters (converted), a year-on-year increase of 78.64%, with an export value of 378 million US dollars, a year-on-year increase of 26.0%. The top five export destinations were South Korea, Taiwan, China, Vietnam, Mongolia, and Chile. Compared with 2024, South Korea jumped from 10th to 1st place, likely benefiting from RCEP tariff reductions, deepened China-South Korea building materials cooperation, and the recovery of South Korea’s real estate and furniture manufacturing industries.
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