Plant valuation

Total import valueValue by trading partnerKey commodities

The financial value of EU reported CITES-listed plants imports in 2014 is estimated to be approximately USD292 million (~ EUR256 million[1]), 70% of which was from wild-sourced imports. In total, imports of non-timber plant species were higher than that of timber species, at USD156 million (EUR139 million) over 53% of the total plant import value.

Proportion of EU plant import value (2014 USD) by source in 2014

[1] All Euro equivalent values throughout this section are based on an exchange rate of 0.89 EUR to 1 USD from http://www.xe.com/ on 03 August 2016.

Cameroon was the main trading partner in 2014, accounting for 34% of import value, all of which was derived from wild-sourced products.

Estimated value (2014 USD) and source of EU plant imports from the top five trading partners in 2014. Countries marked with a* are megadiversity countries.

The top plant commodities by value imported to the EU in 2014 are shown in the figure below.

Estimated value (2014 USD) and source of trade in the top plant commodities imported by the EU in 2014, with an indication of the combined value of the remaining terms (“other”).

Live plants were the highest value plant commodity imported in 2014 (40% of plant imports: USD117 million or ~ EUR 105 million), and were also the top commodity imported by volume, with over 22.6 million live plants imported to the EU in 2014. Artificially propagated plants dominated imports (65% of the total), with the 35% of imports that were wild-sourced comprising almost entirely Amaryllidaceae (96% of wild-sourced live plant imports). The main exporter to the EU was Turkey (33% of import value) and the main importer was The Netherlands (68%).

The top taxa exported as live plants are summarised in the table below.

Top 5 live plant imports by value in 2014

Taxon Total estimated export value of trade in 2014 Price per artificially propagated plant in USD (species level price, unless specified)
[i]Galanthus woronowii[/i] (Green snowdrop) 28 755 243 2.45*
[i]Cycas revoluta[/i] 15 102 518 26.25*
[i[Phalaenopsis hybrid[/i] 14 983 393 22.6
[i]Galanthus elwesii[/i] (Giant snowdrop) 14 275 170 2.45*
[i]Echinocactus grusonii[/i] 5 453 864 17.43

* No species level price available so a proxy of the genus level price was used.

 

Bark accounted for 36% of plant imports in 2014, with an estimated value of USD104 million (~ EUR93 million) and a total volume of 1.3 million kg. Almost all (>99%) of the value of bark imports was derived from Prunus africana (African cherry), all of which was wild-sourced. Cameroon was the top exporter of bark (78%) and France was the main importer (74%).

Timber (reported by volume) was the third highest value plant commodity imported (USD23million or ~ EUR21 million), over 99% of which was wild-sourced timber. Of the 9 species imported for which there was price data available, the majority of the value was derived from imports of Pericopsis elata (African teak; 76%) and Swietenia macrophylla (Big-leaf mahogany; 21%). CITES-listed timber was imported into the EU from 12 countries, the top exporter by value was Cameroon (57%), and the top importer was Belgium (84%).

Total export valueKey commodities

The financial value of EU-reported CITES-listed plant exports in 2014 is estimated to be ~USD 102 million (~ EUR91.2 billion)[1] , the majority of the value of which was timber

Trade in timber species accounted for approximately 62% of the overall value of plant exports (USD63.1 million, EUR56.7 million), with non-timber plant species comprising the remaining 38%.  Within these groups, carvings of timber species and live non-timber plants had the highest estimated financial value. Whilst the majority of the trade in these top two commodities comprised pre-convention (carvings) and artificially propagated (live plants) sourced products, the third, fourth and fifth most important commodities were all wild-sourced.

Whilst 13 Member States exported plant commodities in 2014, three countries (Denmark, Netherlands and Germany) accounted for 87% of the overall estimated export value. The majority of value from these exports was comprised of live plants, carvings, and wax.  The top three destinations for EU plant exports by overall estimated value in 2014 were: United States of America (25%), Japan (20%) and Taiwan, Province of China (7%).

Proportion of EU value (2014 USD) of (re-)exports of plant products by type and source in 2014.

[1]Billion is used to refer to 109.

The highest value plant commodities and their sources are shown in the figure below.

Value (2014 USD) of trade for the top five commodities (re-)exported by the EU in 2014 with an indication of the combined value of the remaining terms (“other”), showing sources. ‘Artificially propagated’ includes Sources A and D, and ‘Wild-sourced’ includes Sources W, U and blank.

In terms of value, the most important plant commodity exported by the EU in 2014 was carvings (56%: approximately USD57 million or EUR 51 million). Carving export values were highest from Denmark (69%) and Germany (24%), and the majority of value was from Dalbergia spp. (Rosewood; >99% of value), predominantly D. nigra (Brazilian rosewood; ~ USD46 million) and D. baronii (~USD11 million). The top import destinations (according to highest estimated value) were the United States (34%), Japan (34%) and Taiwan, Province of China (10%).

The second highest value export was live plants (29%: approximately USD29 million or ~EUR26 million), with 52% of this value from exports of Phalaenopsis spp.(Moth orchids). Five taxa had export values of over USD1 million.

Ninety-five per cent of export value was from the Netherlands and the top importers were Turkey and the United States (16% of value each), Norway (13%) and Switzerland (12%).

Taxa with live plant (re-)exports over USD1 million in 2014

Taxon Total quantity exported in 2014 (no. plants) Total estimated export value of trade in 2014 (species level price, unless specified) Price per artificially propagated plant in USD
[i]Phalaenopsis spp.[/i] (Moth orchids) 678 580 15 335 908 23*
[i]Galanthus elwesii[/i] (Giant snowdrop) 665 630 1 630 794 2.5*
[i]Dionaea muscipula[/i] (Venus flytrap) 142 359 1 423 590 10
[i]Galanthus ikariae[/i] 438 820 1 075 109 2.5*
[i]Mammillaria rhodantha[/i] 33 788 1 026 311 30

* No species level price available so a proxy of the genus level price was used.

Other commodities with an export value of over USD one million included Euphorbia antisyphilitica (Candelillia) wax (all of which was re-exported from Mexico), bark of Prunus africana (African cherry) and extract of several species, most notably Aloe ferox (Cape aloe) and E. antisyphilitica.