27 June 2013, Wbpionline news - From 2009 to 2012, global chip trade increased by 6.5 million tons to just over 31 million tons, valued at over US$5bn, slightly below the all-time high reached in 2011, reports Wood Resource Quarterly.

Much of the increase in chip imports has been because of the expansion of MDF production capacity in Turkey and major investments in China.

Although Japan is still, by far, the largest chip importer in the world, import volumes have declined from a record-high of almost 15 million tons in 2008 to just over 11 million tons in 2012.

China, on the other hand, has gone from being a net exporter of chips less than ten year ago to become the second largest importer of wood chips in the world. It is likely that China will surpass Japan as the world largest chip importer within two to three years.

Japan and China are the two dominant consumers of globally traded chips. Their dominance is particularly accentuated for hardwood chips, where they imported 83% of the world's total imports in 2012.