 This issue of the AFWPS includes an update of the production and consumption volumes for wood-based panels and forest products trade for 2007-08.
With a rise in housing starts in 2007-08, indicating a pickup in domestic demand for forest products, wood-based panels consumption and production in Australia increased in 2007-08.
The value of forest product imports was also higher, growing by 3.1 per cent to $4.4 billion. Most of this growth was in sawnwood, packaging, industrial paper and paper manufactures.
The volume of sawnwood imports increased by 28 per cent in 2007-08.
The value of Australia’s forest product exports rose in 2007-08, growing by about 4.9 per cent over the year to $2.5 billion, driven by woodchip export growth and, to a lesser extent, growth in recovered paper exports.
In 2006-07, log harvest from broadleaved plantations reached 4 million cubic metres mostly coming from Western Australia and Tasmania. |
Domestic demand conditions for Australia’s forest products appear to have picked up following several years of weak housing activity. In 2007-08, total housing starts increased by 3.2 per cent.
In 2007-08, consumption of wood-based panels in Australia increased by 8.4 per cent from 2005-06, mainly as a result of a large increase in medium-density fibreboard (MDF) consumption.
Wood-based panel production rose by 3.3 per cent to 1.8 million cubic metres in 2007-08. Following a large fall in MDF production in 2006-07, resulting from the closure of the export orientated Carter Holt Harvey mill in Tasmania, national MDF production recovered in 2007-08, increasing by 4.4 per cent to 710 000 cubic metres.
As reported in the previous issue of the AFWPS, in 2006-07 the volume of logs harvested from Australia’s forests increased by 1.3 per cent from 2005-06 to 27.1 million cubic metres.
This issue contains a further breakdown of state log production volumes (table 8) into forest types from 2000-01 to 2006-07. This table illustrates that the growth in Australia’s broadleaved woodchips log harvest is coming from the large broadleaved (eucalypt) plantations in Western Australia and Tasmania.
In 2006-07, Australia’s log harvest from broadleaved plantations reached 4 million cubic metres. Western Australia accounted for 62 per cent and Tasmania 26 per cent of the volume. The volume of logs harvested from broadleaved plantations between 2000-01 and 2006-07 has increased by 440 per cent in Western Australia and by almost 350 per cent in Tasmania. |
Imports of forest products increased by 3.1 per cent in 2007-08 to $4.4 billion. A strong rise in the value of sawnwood, paper manufactures and pulp imports offset small falls in the value of wood-based panel, paper and paperboard imports. Indicating strong domestic demand in 2007-08, the volume of sawnwood imports increased by 28 per cent in 2007-08, following two years of declining import volumes.
An increase in coniferous sawnwood imports of 37 per cent to 661 000 cubic metres, offset a slight fall in broadleaved sawnwood imports. New Zealand, the largest supplier to Australia of coniferous sawnwood, accounted for most of the increase in the first half of 2007-08.
Most of the increase in the volume of sawnwood imports in the March and June quarters of 2008 came from low-valued coniferous sawnwood from Austria, Germany and the Czech Republic. Imports of sawnwood from Austria, a minor supplier to the Australian market in previous years, increased from 1000 cubic metres in 2006-07 to 63 000 cubic metres in 2007-08.
The value of imports of both paper manufactures and pulp also increased significantly in 2007-08. Paper manufactures imports increased by $44 million to $513 million, with most of the increase sourced from China, which is the largest supplier. Pulp imports rose by 7.5 per cent to $285 million, having been driven by an 88 per cent increase in the volume of imports from Chile.
While the total value of paper and paperboard imports decreased by only 1 per cent to $2.25 million in 2007-08, there were significant movements within paper grades. A fall in the value of newsprint, household and sanitary paper offset a rise in the value of packaging and industrial paper imports. A fall in the volume of newsprint imports drove an 18 per cent drop in value to $185 million in 2007-08, the first time below $200 million since 1994-95.
Exports of forest products rose by 4.9 per cent to $2.5 billion in 2007-08. This was largely because of sustained growth in plantation hardwood woodchip exports, driving a 13 per cent increase in the value of total woodchip exports. However, the value of most other exports fell, particularly sawnwood and wood-based panel exports.
The volume of woodchip exports increased over the year by 3.6 per cent to 6.2 million bone-dry tonnes in 2007-08. The annual increase occurred as a result of a quarterly record of 1.7 million tonnes of exports in the 2008 June quarter. Prices also increased sharply, leading to a 12.8 per cent increase in the total value of woodchip exports to $1.1 billion for 2007-08, exceeding the $1 billion mark for the first time.
The export price of coniferous and broadleaved woodchips increased by 14 per cent and 7.9 per cent respectively in 2007-08.
Most of the woodchip export growth in 2007-08 was driven by the increase in volume of broadleaved woodchips, which increased by 152 000 bone-dry tonnes to 5 million bone-dry tonnes. Most of this increase in 2007-08 resulted from more shipments from Tasmania and Victoria. Also, coniferous woodchip exports increased by 61 000 tonnes to 1.1 million tonnes in 2007-08.
Exports of recovered paper grew strongly, reaching $252 million in 2007-08, as a result of large increases to the major export markets of China and Indonesia. The volume of exports and world price for recovered paper increased significantly. The average export unit value exceeded $200 per tonne in the 2008 June quarter.
With the commencement of production at the Ta Ann export veneer mill in Tasmania, veneer exports increased from $6 million in 2006-07 to $19 million 2007-08. The veneer production from this mill is mainly being exported to Malaysia for processing into plywood, rather than decorative veneer which has accounted for the majority of veneer exports in previous years.
Following a large increase in 2006-07, the value of sawnwood exports fell by 17 per cent in 2007-08, as a result of declines in exports to the Asian markets, particularly Viet Nam. However, at 338 000 cubic metres, sawnwood export volumes remain high compared to five years ago when export volumes were below 100 000 cubic metres.
Wood-based panel export volumes fell by 12 per cent as lower medium-density fibreboard exports offset the rise in veneer exports. The decline in MDF exports results from the closure of the export orientated Carter Holt Harvey MDF production facility in Tasmania.
Paper, paperboard and paper manufacture exports all recorded small falls in 2007-08. Paper and paperboard exports fell by 2.3 per cent in 2007-08 to $635 million, mainly as a result of a fall in printing and writing exports to the United States. The value of paper manufacture exports fell by 7.3 per cent in 2007-08 as a result of a fall in exports to the main export market of New Zealand. |
