Korea Forest Service: "Domestic Wood Producers See Revenue Rise Despite Decline in Wood Consumption"

Despite an overall decline in wood consumption last year, sales by domestic wood production companies managed to hold up relatively well, according to a recent survey.

The Korea Forest Service announced the results of its "Wood Utilization Survey" on December 3. The survey was conducted to assess last year's wood utilization status based on 22 wood products, including sawn timber.

Infographic on Domestic Wood Utilization Status Based on the 2024 Wood Utilization Survey. Provided by the Korea Forest Service

The survey found that the total annual domestic wood consumption last year was 26.41 million cubic meters. This figure is the sum of 5.18 million cubic meters of domestically produced wood and 21.23 million cubic meters of imported wood, including imported logs and wood products. The wood self-sufficiency rate was 19.6%.

Last year's wood consumption decreased by approximately 810,000 cubic meters compared to the previous year (27.22 million cubic meters in 2023). Of this, domestic wood consumption fell by 130,000 cubic meters from 5.31 million cubic meters in 2023 to 5.18 million cubic meters last year, while imported wood consumption decreased by 690,000 cubic meters from 21.92 million cubic meters to 21.23 million cubic meters.

As wood consumption declined, total sales revenue also decreased. However, during this period, sales revenue for domestic wood production companies actually increased.

Last year, the combined sales revenue of domestic wood production companies and wood import and distribution companies was 8.3818 trillion won, a decrease of 105.1 billion won from 8.4869 trillion won in 2023. In contrast, sales revenue for domestic wood production companies reached 3.9696 trillion won last year, an increase of 273.9 billion won from 3.6957 trillion won in 2023.

The decline in wood consumption is attributed to the ongoing slump in the construction sector and changes in the international situation, such as tariff increases. Meanwhile, the Korea Forest Service believes that growing social consensus on the importance of wood utilization for carbon neutrality helped domestic wood production companies maintain relatively strong sales revenue.

Last year’s wood self-sufficiency rate also remained at a similar level to that of 2023 (19.5%).

Further details on the survey results can be found in the Administrative Information and Integrated Data Room on the Korea Forest Service website, or in the Forestry Information and Statistics Data Room on the Korea Forestry Promotion Institute website.

Kim Inho, Commissioner of the Korea Forest Service, stated, "Wood is an essential resource for achieving carbon neutrality," adding, "The Korea Forest Service will actively promote effective policies to revitalize wood utilization, focusing on expanding the use of domestic wood."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.