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In recent developments, the Thai plywood industry has been scrutinized after Vietnam initiated an anti-dumping investigation into Thai Medium Density Fiberboard (MDF) and Particleboard on September 25, 2024. This was followed by South Korea launching a similar investigation on December 16, 2024. These actions have raised concerns among Thai exporters, prompting them to formally contest these allegations.
Vietnam has emerged as a crucial market for Thai MDF, with exports valued at $60.48 million in 2024. The accusations from Vietnam stem from a perception that Thailand’s competitive pricing is undermining local industries. Meanwhile, South Korea’s investigation appears to be influenced by environmental policy changes that have increased production costs for its local manufacturers.
The preliminary results of the transaction verification (TV) loop on Vietnamese wood supply chains indicate that there are some potential discrepancies in transactions reported by the certificate holders included in this TV loop. Several suppliers declared fewer sales than the purchases reported by their customers.
The original scope of the TV loop included 424 certificate holders – 368 chain of custody and 56 forest management certificates; they were requested to submit their transaction data for 2022. However, 17 certificate holders did not respond, and their certificates were suspended by their respective certification bodies, some of which were subsequently terminated. Findings include:
- Some certificate holders sold products with FSC controlled wood claims to non-certified companies, which is against the normative provisions related to FSC controlled wood (FSC-STD-40-004-V1, clause 5.6).
- The volume of FSC controlled wood traded in the supply chains surpasses the volume of timber sourced from FSC-certified forests.
In July 2022, the European Union responded to the war in Ukraine by banning the import of Russian woody biomass used to make energy. At roughly the same time, South Korea drastically upped its Russian woody biomass imports, becoming the sole official importer of Russian wood pellets for industrial energy use.
The EU has reportedly replaced its Russian supplies of woody biomass by importing wood pellets from the U.S. and Eastern Europe. But others say that trade data and paper trails indicate a violation of the EU ban, with laundered Russian wood pellets possibly flowing through Turkey, Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan to multiple EU nations.
EU pellet imports from Turkey grew from 2,200 tons monthly last spring to 16,000 tons in September. Imports from Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan reportedly rose too, even though neither has a forest industry. A large body of scientific evidence shows that woody biomass adds significantly to climate change and biodiversity loss.
Enviva, the world’s largest woody biomass producer, which operates chiefly in the Southeast U.S., may be the big winner in the Russian biomass ban. Since the war began, Enviva has upped EU shipments, and also announced a 10-year contract with an unnamed European customer to deliver 800,000 metric tons of pellets annually by 2027.
Wood Central reports that, for April 2024, South Korean imports of Russian wood pallets jumped 27%, with more than 200,000 cubic tonnes traded from Moscow to Soel from January to April alone. 85% of Russia’s Logs Are Sent to China—Where Do They End Up? | Wood Central
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