15 June 2011
The March 2011 quarterly URS Timber Market Survey (TMS) has once again confirmed the difficult trading conditions for Australian wood products manufacturers. It also shows that New Zealand suppliers are losing market share to North American mills. The survey shows wide ranging price declines across many softwood products in the March quarter 2011, particularly the key structural grades MGP10 and MGP12, plywood and laminated veneer lumber (LVL); and there has been a decline in dwelling construction approvals over the March quarter 2011, with particular weakness in the Queensland market.Softwood timber imports in the March quarter 2011 remained at very similar levels to the December quarter 2010. The share of softwood timber imports supplied by New Zealand and Europe fell in the March quarter, by 16% and 7% respectively, with the gap filled by a sharp increase in softwood timber imported from Canada and the US.
Despite rising demand for structural timber in China and Japan, Australian softwood timber exports fell by 29% in the March quarter 2011 from around 78,000 m3 to 55,700 m3. This concludes three successive falls in timber exports. Plywood and veneer imports remained relatively high, increasing slightly in the March quarter 2011. Chile is the largest import source for plywood and veneer products. Plywood and veneer exports from Australia fell by 39% in the March quarter 2011.
The TMS provides national price indexes for a range of timber products, as well as an update on economic conditions influencing wood product markets and the latest trade data. TMS price data is collected through quarterly surveys of a representative sample of timber market participants in eastern Australia. The TMS reports for the March and September quarters contain pricing information for softwood timber, panel and engineered wood products.
The June and December quarter reports also include hardwood timber products. Funding for the TMS is provided by Forest and Wood Products Australia, Forests NSW, Timber Queensland, VicForests, HVP Plantations, Forestry Plantations Queensland, the Department of Environment and Resource Management Queensland, Forestry Tasmania, Forestry SA, and the Forest Products Commission WA. AFPA is encouraged that these key industry players fund and support a publication such as the TMS that is widely available for all of industry to access.
The March 2011 TMS can be found here.
Source: Canopy, the weekly newsletter of the Australian Forest Products Association