New Zealand has overtaken Russia as the largest soft-wood log supplier to China, according to the Seattle-based organisation Wood Resources International.
The organisation says imports of logs and lumber into China fell in 2012 and early 2013 but have surged in the June quarter with the import value jumping more than 30% compared with a year earlier.
It says Russia completely dominated the Chinese log import market four years ago but now the US and Canada supply 25% of all log exports to China.
The organisation says Russia's log exports are likely to continue to decline.
