Italian imports tumble

While the overall value of Italian imports of most hardwood products between January and September 2001 (see statistics) was comparable to the previous year, the nine month data masks a significant fall in imports after June 2001. Italian imports of nearly all hardwood products were very buoyant in the first and second quarters of 2001. However, comparing the third quarter of 2001 with the third quarter of the previous year, there was a significant fall in the value of imports of most products including tropical logs (down 6%), beech logs (down 44%), oak logs (down 15%), other temperate logs (down 13%), tropical lumber (down 19%), beech lumber (down 36%), oak lumber (down 6%), other temperate lumber (down 9%), and temperate hardwood veneers (down 16%).