Bamboo

At a glance

Bamboo is naturally distributed in tropical, subtropical and mild temperate areas, and is commonly found in Asia, Africa, and Latin America.
Bamboo production data are not available at the global level. Individual producer countries publish some production data, but it is typically incomparable due to differences in units of measure and product classifications.
Bamboo trade data is widely available and highly detailed. There are over 12 types of bamboo products for which data is regularly collected at the global level.
The total value of exports of bamboo products in 2018 amounted to 2.9 billion USD.
The top 5 bamboo exporters in 2018 were China (over 2000 million USD), Canada (over 150 million), the Netherlands (over 80 million), Viet Nam (over 70 million) and India (over 60 million).
Articles of bamboo (kitchenware, tableware and others) are the most traded type of bamboo product (23%) followed by bamboo shoots (12%).

Relevant associations or institutions

International Bamboo and Rattan Organization

Tools

Description, ecology and distribution

Bamboo is an ancient woody grass with over 1 600 species, widely distributed in tropical, subtropical and mild temperate zones. Bamboo is found naturally throughout Asia, Africa and Central and South America.

Bamboo has long been used throughout the world for housing and building, energy, pulp and paper, fibre, crafts, utensils and food (bamboo shoots). This versatile non-wood forest product (NWFP) is also known for its ability to restore land and landscapes, help conserve soil and water, improve land quality, control erosion, and adapt to climatic changes. As a result of its long, fibrous and shallow roots – bamboo has been described as a “soil binder”.[3] Bamboo also increases carbon content, absorbs high volumes of CO2 and adds humus to the soil.[4]

Taxonomic studies have received the most attention, whereas bamboo distribution, utilization and trade have not been approached systematically and the results (particularly of bamboo extent) are mostly based on rough expert estimates, although this is improving. Systematic review of bamboo resources is complicated due to the nature of bamboo, which often grows intermixed with other species as forest understorey or outside forests on farmland. Bamboo products are also difficult to track and introduce into national statistics because they are often intermixed with other, usually wooden, commodities when traded, or they are traded locally without entering official statistics.

Since 2007, many national and subnational studies have been carried out, national inventories have been improved and methodologies for bamboo assessment have been developed[1], but the global picture remains unclear. To close this knowledge gap and to support the green economy, INBAR is currently taking steps to build an information system at global level (reference).

Source: FAO, 2007, “World Bamboo Resources”

The last global assessment on bamboo dates back to 2007, when FAO and INBAR published “World Bamboo Resources”, a thematic study prepared in the framework of the Global Forest Resources Assessment 2005. The study combined national reports from countries, national forest research institutions, FRA 2005 country reports, experts estimates, national forest inventories and other sources to assess global bamboo resources. Figure 1 summarizes their findings in terms of extent of bamboo forests in Asia, Africa and Latin America. China and India have the largest shares of global bamboo resources, followed by Indonesia, Ecuador, Myanmar and Viet Nam. Other countries included are: Bangladesh, Cambodia, Japan, Lao People’s Democratic Republic, Malaysia, Pakistan, Papua New Guinea, the Philippines, Republic of Korea, Sri Lanks, Thailand, Ethiopia, kenya, Nigeria, Uganda, Tanzania, Brazil, Chile and Peru.

Figure 1- Countries with the largest bamboo resources, (% hectares)

Bamboo production data are not available at the global level. Individual producer countries publish some production data, but both the product classification and the units of measure vary, making it hard to compare the data. For instance, Japan publishes bamboo wood and bamboo shoots production data, which in 2016 amounted to 1 272.2 thousand bundles and 35 618.8 tonnes respectively. China’s statistical yearbook publishes the data for dry bamboo shoots, which in 2017 were 858 083 tonnes. Philippine forestry statistics report on bamboo poles as one of the main non-wood forest products and provide comprehensive figure about production, export and prices.

Bamboo is traded in several different forms, and international trade data is available in a great level of data according to the Harmonized System (HS) Nomenclature that is a system primarily and universally used for determining customs tariffs and for the collection of international trade statistics. The underlying principle of the classification requires that the HS enables customs officers to classify commodities into unambiguous categories based on objective criteria. The main criteria used were classification according to raw or basic material; degree of processing; function; and economics activities.

Within such framework bamboo and the products fall under 8 different chapters, depending on the kind and level of manufacturing. Several subheadings cover the whole scope of bamboo products, including bamboo as a food product, bamboo as plaiting material and industrialized bamboo. For the purpose of this brief, subheadings that are mixed with products that are not bamboo have been dropped from the analysis to avoid overestimation*.

Figure 2. Global bamboo exports value (%) by category. 2018. (Data source: Trademap.org.)

* Bamboo classified under HS chapter 7 could not be included, as well as bamboo under one subheading of HS chapter 20.

The total value of exports of bamboo in 2018 amounted to 2.9 billion USD. Figure 2 shows its distribution among these chapters.

Bamboo in the Chapter of wood, bamboo and articles thereof

Bamboo products of this chapter are by far the most exported items, accounting for 65% of the global value of exports, although other articles such as kitchenware, tableware, various sticks (circle, bars and popsicles) and others account for most of this trade (Figure 2). The chapter includes specifically:

Bamboo charcoal (4402.10)
Bamboo wood (4409.21)
Bamboo panels (4412.10)
Builders’ articles of bamboo (4418.73, 4418,91)
Tableware and kitchenware of bamboo (4419.11, 4419.12, 4419.19)
Other articles of bamboo (4421.91)

Bamboo in the Chapter of Manufactures of straw, of esparto or of other plaiting materials; basketware and wickerwork

Bamboo products included here account for 13% of global value of exports. The chapter specifies:

Mats, matting and screens of bamboo (4601.21)
Bamboo plaits and other products of bamboo plaiting material (4601.92)
Basketwork, wickerwork and other articles made directly to shape from bamboo plaiting material or from goods under heading 4601.21 (4602.11)

Bamboo in the Chapter of preparation of vegetables, fruits, nuts or other parts of plants

This chapter includes one bamboo products, the preserved/prepared bamboo shoots that account for 12% of the global value of exports and specifically it refers to:

Bamboo shoots prepared or preserved otherwise than by vinegar or acetic acid, not frozen (2005.91)

Bamboo in the Chapter of manufactured articles

Bamboo products of this chapter are divided by:

Seats of bamboo (9401.52)
Other furniture or parts thereof of bamboo (9403.82)

Overall accounting for 6% of global bamboo exports.

Bamboo in the chapter of Vegetable plaiting materials

Bamboo included here account for the 3% of global bamboo exports and is simply defined as:

Bamboo as plating material (140110)

Bamboo in the chapters of Pulp and papers

Bamboo included in these chapters account for the residual 1% of total exports and refer to:

Pulps of fibres derived from recovered (waste and scrap) bamboo paper or paperboards (4706.30)
Trays, dishes, plates, cups and the likes of bamboo paper and paperboard (4823.61)

It is worth noting that some countries, given their internal monitoring purposes, developed more detailed categories than those available in the international nomenclature. This is for instance the case of China, Japan and South Korea, where bamboo as food products has such importance that could be analysed in a greater detail than the prepared/preserved form (fresh, in brine or dried); similarly, Hong Kong custom tariff instead, enable to focus on bamboo as plaiting material further specifying the item Bamboo as plating material (140110) into Bamboo canes (14011010), Bamboo splits (14011020) and Bamboo canes (140130). Such countries refinements, although allowing for targeted analyses, are beyond the scope of this reporting which aim is to provide the picture of the global level of trade and it is believed that the data of seventeen items above described as presented in the HS chapters fulfil the scope.

At country level, the top 5 bamboo exporters in terms of value in 2018 were China (over 2000 million USD), Canada (over 150 million), the Netherlands (over 80 million), Viet Nam (over 70 million) and India (over 60 million).

Figure 4 – Top five countries exports value of bamboo products, 1000 USD Year 2018. (Data source: Trademap.org).

As figure 4 shows, China’s is by far the largest exporter, with most of the value concentrated in particular circle sticks/bars, popsicle sticks, spatula and the like (442191) - followed by bamboo shoots (200591) and plaited bamboo articles (chapter 46). China exports at item level are in the figure below. Although out of scope here, it is worth notice again that greater in-depth analysis of China exports could be figured out once detailed custom data are analysed. For instance, when looking at bamboo as a food source, it would be possible to account for additional trade of bamboo shoots as fresh, chilled, in brine or dried which exports amounted to almost 30 million USD in 2019. Similarly, it is possible to understand the details of trade of the different kind of plywood of bamboo according to thickness and sheets.

Figure 5. China exports of bamboo products, 1000 USD. Year 2018.

For other top exporting countries, articles of bamboo represent a large part of exports as well, except for Viet Nam where plaited bamboo articles play a significant role accounting for 60% of the overall Viet Nam bamboo exports. Also to notice the relevance of bamboo products for non-resource countries such as Canada and Netherlands.

The top five importers of bamboo are shown in Table 1. In 2018, the US imported bamboo and bamboo products for a total of over 1000 million USD, followed by Japan (over 300 million), the Netherlands (180 million), France (130 million) and Germany (120 million). The top five importers mostly import chapter 44 bamboo products, except for Japan that also imports a significant amount of bamboo shoots.

Reference classifications used for this brief are the Central Product Classification (CPC 2.1) and the Harmonized Commodity Description and Coding System (HS 2017).
CPC 2.1
Bamboo products are classified in several subclasses under three sections: Section 0 “Agriculture, forestry and fishery products”; Section 2 “Food products, beverages and tobacco; textiles, apparel and leather products” and Section 3 “Other transportable goods”. While Section 1 and 2 include bamboo under broad residual categories Section 3 clearly identifies bamboo as follows:

International Bamboo and Rattan Organization. https://www.inbar.int/

Lobovikov M, Ball L, Guardia M, Russo L. World bamboo resources: a thematic study prepared in the framework of the global forest resources assessment 2005: Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, Rome; 2007.

Sharma, R.; Wahono, J.; Baral, H. Bamboo as an Alternative Bioenergy Crop and Powerful Ally for Land Restoration in Indonesia. Sustainability 2018, 10, 4367. https://doi.org/10.3390/su10124367

Sorrenti, S. 2017. Non-wood forest products in international statistical systems. Non-wood Forest Products Series no. 22. Rome, FAO.

Trade Map. International Trade Centre. (available at: https://trademap.org/Index.aspx). Accessed June 2020.

UNSD. 2015. Central Product Classification (CPC) Ver.2.1. (available at: https://unstats.un.org/unsd/classifications/unsdclassifications/cpcv21.pdf). Accessed June 2020.

WCO. HS Nomenclature 2017 edition. (available at: http://www.wcoomd.org/en/topics/nomenclature/instrument-and-tools/hs-nomenclature-2017-edition/hs-nomenclature-2017- edition.aspxhttp://www.wcoomd.org/en/topics/nomenclature/instrument-and-tools/hs-nomenclature-2017-edition/hs-nomenclature-2017- edition.aspx). Accessed June 2020.

Trade Map. International Trade Centre, www.intracen.org/marketanalysis.