The GTI comprehensive index measures the monthly overall development and prosperity of the pilot countries' timber industry. For timber-producing countries such as Indonesia, Malaysia, Gabon, Republic of the Congo, Brazil, and Mexico, the survey focuses on the prosperous development trend of local timber harvesting and supplying, and the timber industry's prosperity is closely related to that of downstream demand. Regarding China, a major timber processing and manufacturing country, the survey focuses on the prosperous development trend of the timber processing and manufacturing sector, and to some extent, the prosperity of the timber manufacturing sector can drive the development of the upstream timber sector.

In terms of producers’ GTI, the GTI comprehensive index of the six timber-producing countries remained at a low level from November 2022 to September 2023 due to the contraction in international market demand. Brazil, Gabon, Republic of the Congo, Malaysia, and Mexico saw GTI indexes below 50% for eleven consecutive months, with average values of 36.0%, 37.9%, 34.6%, 30.2%, and 42.1%, respectively, indicating a sustained contraction in the timber market. The Indonesian timber market showed signs of recovery from April this year, with the GTI-Indonesia index rising to 50.6%, above 50% for the first time in the past nine months. However, this was mainly due to the increase in its domestic orders, and whether the international market could recover remains to be observed.

Since the beginning of December 2022, China had relaxed its policy on infection prevention and control for COVID-19. Driven by the real estate stimulus policy and the "steady growth" measures, the timber industry had experienced a strong boost in production activities. From November 2022 to September 2023, the average value of GTI-China index recorded 46.0%, significantly higher than the average of timber-producing countries. Since the relaxation of the pandemic measures, except for January when the index was lowered due to the Chinese New Year holiday, GTI-China had remained above the critical value (50%) for three consecutive months, then fluctuated around the critical value, demonstrating the strong resilience and vitality of China's timber processing and manufacturing industry, but its stability still needs to be consolidated.

For the full version of the report, please see: 

GTI Annual Report (2022-2023).pdf