Analysis of China's primary wood products market : sawnwood and plywood

China's primary wood processing industry and wood consuming sectors have experienced rapid growth in recent years. Industries like sawnwood and plywood have developed very quickly. The purpose of this study is to: 1) provide an overview of the demand, supply, imports and exports of raw wood and primary wood products in the China market between 1993 and 2007, 2) present quantitative estimates of the relative importance of factors influencing the demand, supply and exports of Chinese plywood, 3) draw conclusions about China's potentials and challenges for foreign enterprises, including Finnish companies. The information, analyses and findings presented in this study can give a reference for wood processing companies, especially for sawnwood and plywood firms, and governmental agencies in China. In addition, the study provides a basis for further study and research. Even though much information has been published in China, academic research in the Chinese woodworking market is scarce, and especially, time-series data is missing and unreliable. This study tries to fill this gap. It is based on secondary data collected from various sources, including literatures, journals, magazines, consulting reports, industry analysis, news, and so on. The annual time-series data obtained for variables in models are mainly gathered from original official Chinese sources. The study increases the information and understanding on the Chinese wood products markets by using descriptive and explanatory methods to analyze the data for background information, markets and empirical modeling. By employing econometric models, based on the elasticity estimates, Chinese plywood demand seems to be income elastic but price inelastic, Chinese plywood supply would be highly elastic with raw material price but scale inelastic, and Chinese plywood exports appear to be highly income elastic.