US Plywood Imports Rebound as Vietnamese Volume Jumps

US plywood importers spent the spring restocking, and the numbers now show it. Hardwood and decorative plywood arrivals rose more than 58% in volume and 33% in value in the first five months of 2026, according to trade data reported by the Decorative Hardwoods Association and Woodworking Network. Vietnam drove much of that swing. After January volumes fell by roughly half, Vietnamese shipments came back hard, reaching close to 300 million square feet from January through May, a 191% jump.

For anyone buying panels this quarter, the rebound matters more than the headline percentage. It says inventory pipelines emptied out over a soft winter and then refilled fast once pricing and paperwork lined up. That kind of whipsaw tends to firm quotes on the way back.

Price and freight snapshot

Lumber futures set the tone. Prices touched $642 per thousand board feet on July 10, the year's high so far, before easing to about $614 by July 31, per Trading Economics. Even after the pullback, lumber sat roughly 11.5% above its 2025 close, Barchart noted. Sawn softwood is not plywood, but it is the clearest public read on where structural wood costs are heading, and the direction is up.

Ocean freight is the other cost line buyers cannot ignore. As we flagged in our end-July brief, peak-season pressure has kept rates elevated. Drewry's World Container Index climbed 9% in a single week in mid-July to $4,530 per 40-foot container, more than 61% above a year earlier, IndexBox reported. Shanghai to Los Angeles ran about $6,272 and Shanghai to Rotterdam about $4,873 by July 16.

Supply: Vietnam's panel side outgrows its finished goods

Vietnam's total wood and wood-product exports grew about 4.4% in the first half of 2026, but the growth was lopsided. Wood chips, pellets, and industrial wood panels carried the gain, while deeply processed products slipped 2.7%, according to Fordaq and Vietnam Briefing coverage of industry figures. First-quarter exports reached roughly $4.0 billion, up 1% year on year, with finished wood products down 5%.

We read that split as a supply signal worth watching. Mills are leaning into panel and semi-finished output while the furniture side stays soft, which means capacity and attention are pointed at exactly the categories plywood buyers purchase.

Demand: US multifamily jumps, single-family keeps cooling

US housing gave a mixed but loud signal in June. Total starts ran at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.427 million, up 19% from May, the Census Bureau reported. The surge was almost entirely multifamily, which soared 76% to 513,000 units. Single-family starts slipped 0.2% to 895,000, a third straight monthly decline as mortgage rates and prices weighed on buyers.

That mix favors panel demand tied to apartment and mid-rise work over single-family sheathing. Europe looks steadier. The EU construction sector is forecast to grow about 1.5% in 2026 after a flat 2025, on firmer contractor confidence and a rebound in housing permits, per ING and Global Wood Markets Info. Sawn timber stays uneven, with pine oversupply pressuring prices while spruce firms, Fastmarkets noted.

Trade and policy: duties finalized, scope stays narrow

On July 21, the US Commerce Department's final antidumping and countervailing duty determinations on hardwood and decorative plywood from China, Indonesia, and Vietnam took effect, per the Federal Register. A final injury vote from the US International Trade Commission is due by September 4. Read the scope closely before assuming it touches your order. These proceedings cover hardwood and decorative plywood, the furniture- and cabinet-grade product. Finished furniture, cabinets, and countertops sit outside the scope, and construction formwork and structural panels fall in a separate product category.

The import surge and the duty finding point at the same product, which is telling. Much of the early-2026 restocking looks like front-loading of decorative-grade plywood ahead of the final rates. Buyers of film-faced plywood and formwork panels are watching a different lane. Separately, Canadian softwood lumber was exempted from Washington's new 50% tariff, though 98 other wood-product categories remained subject to it.

Outlook

Two dates anchor the next few weeks. The ITC injury vote on September 4 will settle whether the decorative-plywood duties stand, and the EU Deforestation Regulation now applies from December 30, 2026 after another delay, per the European Commission. The late-July freight softening looks more like a pause than a reversal, so buyers planning Q4 arrivals should still budget conservatively on ocean rates. Firm lumber and firm freight, set against a narrow but final duty ruling, add up to a market where locking in orders early carries less risk than waiting.

About Vinawood

Vinawood is a Vietnamese plywood manufacturer established in 1992, shipping more than 5,000 containers a year to 55+ countries. Our formwork, structural, and commercial panels carry full international certifications, including CE (EN 13986), EPA TSCA Title VI, FSC, and PEFC, backed by 100% individual sheet inspection across a 12-step production process. To discuss film-faced or formwork plywood supply for your next project, request a quote from our team.