A report released by the Australian Bureau of Agricultural and Resource Economics and Sciences (ABARES) today highlighted continued growth in Australia’s forestry sector thanks to favourable conditions in key markets, particularly housing and international trade.

ABARES Executive Director, Dr Steve Hatfield-Dodds, said Australian forest and wood products statistics: March and June quarters 2018, reported the fourth consecutive year of growth for the value added by the forestry and forest product manufacturing industries, to $8.8 billion.

“We are seeing strong domestic demand for wood products, with a 4.4 per cent increase in house commencements compared to the previous year, while the number of new other residential buildings—such as units and townhouses—also increased,” Dr Hatfield-Dodds said.

Domestic demand for wood products remains at high levels. Following four years of consecutive growth, the estimated volume of logs harvested stabilised in 2017−18 at 32.9 million cubic metres.

Exports of Australia’s wood products were higher than ever in 2017–18, increasing for the fifth consecutive year to reach a record $3.6 billion, on the back of record high exports of woodchips, paper and paperboard, and roundwood.

Overseas demand for woodchips, sourced mainly from Australia’s commercial hardwood plantations, remains strong with woodchips exports reaching $1.3 billion. The report finds the Chinese market accounted for the majority of total wood product export growth in 2017−18. In fact, according to ABARES, 47 per cent of Australia’s wood product exports went to China, a market now worth $1.7 billion.

Australia’s demand for overseas wood products in 2017−18 also increased, to $5.6 billion across all major wood product import categories, driven by growth in imports of wood-based panels and miscellaneous forest products.

If the good operating conditions remain the rest of the year, 2018 can be a record year in terms of total impact and timber prices reports Gina Aakre –
Norwegian Forest Owners Association. It shows figures from the Agriculture Directorate.

The average timber price was NOK 426 per cubic meter, which is 18 percent higher than the same time last year. The impact is so far this year at the same level as in 2017, despite lower activity during the drought this summer. In total, 8.2 million m3 of timber has been decommissioned until 2018, of which 2.4 mill m3 timber has been decommissioned in the third quarter. It reports the Agriculture Directorate.

High demand for domestic and export timber demand has led to a rise in timber prices from an already high price level, and the increase in mass has been particularly pronounced.

“In the skating industry, we are accustomed to prices varying with the business cycle, but we have rarely experienced such a significant rise in prices as the one we now see in the massacre,” says Per Guldbrand Solli, section head of the Danish Agricultural Directorate.

The price of pomegranate from pine and pine increases by 42 and 48 per cent respectively compared with the same period last year. By comparison, the average price of wood and pinewoodwoods increased by 7.5 and 3.4 per cent.

In July, the activity in the forest is usually low due to holiday vacations, this year the summer harvest is also affected by the extreme drought.

The figures show that this turn in September, and that the harvest increases relative to last year. If the good operating conditions remain the rest of the year, 2018 will be a record year both in terms of total impact and timber price.

“The forest represents a contribution to the economy for those affected by the drought in agriculture this summer,” comments Solli.

Traditional forest fences in the inland have been the main source of increased impact, following the same pattern as previous years.

Photo: Timber prices are still rising, and in the autumn there has been a lot of activity in the forest. (Photo: Åsmund Lang)