Where does the world's timber come from?

Timber & forest products covers logs, plywood, sawnwood. What moves them together: Housing starts, mill capacity, log export bans, tariffs and sustainability rules, wildfires and pests.

What stands out across timber & forest products?

Among the 3 commodities in timber & forest products with a production ranking, supply is most concentrated in plywood, where China produced 53% of the world total in 2024, and least concentrated in logs, where the largest producer, the United States, produced 16% in 2024. the United States is the largest producer of 2 of the 3. In 2 of them the largest producer is not the largest exporter by value, as for logs, where the United States produced 16% and New Zealand led exports of wood in the rough (HS 4403) with 14%. Production years differ by commodity and sources are FAOSTAT, USGS or the Energy Institute; exports are CEPII BACI trade records.

In the twelve months to September 2026, 0 of 3 priced commodities in this category had a higher benchmark price, with the smallest fall for sawnwood (-0.6%) and the largest fall for plywood (-5.4%). These are monthly benchmark series in their own units, from the World Bank Pink Sheet, IMF or other sources named on each price page, and a twelve-month change says nothing about what comes next.

Commodities in this category

Timber & forest products commodities with top producers and latest prices
Commodity	Top producers	Latest price	12 months
Logs Tree stems cut to length for sawing or peeling, measured in cubic metres and traded before any milling.	Share of world logs production: United States 16%, Brazil 10%, Russia 9.9%, Rest of world 64%. United States 16%, Brazil 10%, Russia 10% (2024)	$402.9/m³ Cameroon, sapele, FOB Douala	-2%
Plywood Panels glued from thin wood veneers with alternating grain, used in construction, furniture and packaging.	Share of world plywood production: China 53%, India 11%, United States 7.9%, Rest of world 28%. China 53%, India 11%, United States 8% (2024)	349.1¢/sheet Africa and Southeast Asia, Tokyo import	-5%
Sawnwood Wood sawn lengthwise into boards thicker than six millimetres, the main construction timber.	Share of world sawnwood production: United States 17%, China 14%, Russia 8.4%, Rest of world 61%. United States 17%, China 14%, Russia 8% (2024)	$642.9/m³ Cameroon, sapele, FOB Douala	-1%

Price index since 1960

Timber index

Source: World Bank Commodity Price Data (The Pink Sheet), monthly indices, 2010 = 100, published 2026-10-02. CC BY 4.0.

Indices are monthly averages and lag the market; informational only, not investment advice.

Which timber & forest products prices move together?

Within timber & forest products, logs and sawnwood are the most closely linked: their monthly price changes correlate at 0.35. Correlation of monthly log price changes (not price levels), computed only over pairs with at least 90 overlapping months, the same method as the site-wide linked-prices report and the correlation calculator — this view is scoped to timber & forest products alone, which the site-wide report's top pairs rarely include.

Green: prices that rise and fall together. Brown: prices that move in opposite directions. Thicker and darker lines are stronger correlations.

Data updated 22 October 2026.