Lumber imports to China picked up 2 percent during the second quarter after the construction market picked up some steam. The increase in imports to China was welcome news after a 16 percent decline in lumber import volumes during the first quarter.

During the first quarter Canadian lumber shipments saw the biggest drop, according to Wood Resource Quarterly. With the uptick in the second quarter, the annual growth rate is on target to reach 7.5 percent, which is lower than in 2013 but “still considerable growth compared to most other major economies around the world,” Wood Resource Quarterly reported China increased the importation of both lumber and logs in the second quarter with lumber volumes climbing 19 percent.

Russia, which currently supplies about 40 percent of softwood lumber to the Chinese market, increased shipments by as much as 32 percent. WRQ estimates the short-term forecast is for a “flat line, or even decline in log and lumber volumes landed at Chinese ports” in the third quarter this year.