Overview

Highlights in this issue

This issue of the Australian forest and wood products statistics (AFWPS) incorporates new data relating to plantation areas, log harvest volumes and values and estimates of sawnwood and paper production for 2007-08. Updated Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) trade data for the September and December 2008 quarters are also included.
The total volume of logs harvested in 2007-08 rose by 4.7 per cent to 28.5 million cubic metres. While the volume of logs harvested from native forests has declined by 13 percent compared with 2002-03, they recorded a slight increase in 2007-08 to about 8.9 million cubic metres (figure a).
Continuing the trend of recent years, the volume of logs harvested from plantations in Australia increased significantly in 2007-08, particularly broadleaved plantation logs, which increased by 14 per cent to 4.6 million cubic metres. Pulplogs for woodchip export was 89 per cent of the volume of plantation logs harvested.
The timber plantation area in Australia continued to expand in 2008, reaching almost 2 million hectares in June, with more than 1 million hectares of coniferous plantations and 950 000 hectares of broadleaved plantations.
However, the rate of establishment of new plantations eased in 2008. While more than 72 000 hectares of timber plantations were established over the year to June 2008, this is 16.5 per cent lower than the 87 000 hectares of new plantations established in the previous 12 months. In 2008, more than 90 per cent of the new plantation area was broadleaved plantations.

Production and consumption

Total Australian sawnwood production was estimated at 5.4 million cubic metres in 2007-08, representing a 4 per cent rise on the previous year. While the production of hardwood sawnwood declined over the year, coniferous sawnwood production increased by 8.5 per cent.
Paper and paperboard production also increased in 2007-08, by 2.8 per cent to reach 3.3 million tonnes. This was because of a strong rise in newsprint production, which rose by 11 per cent.
While the production of wood-based panels also increased in 2007-08, more recent quarterly data suggests a decline in the sector. In the September and December 2008 quarters, wood-based panel production was down by 1.8 per cent compared with a year earlier, led by a 4.2 per cent fall in medium density fibreboard output.
Domestic demand conditions for Australia’s forest products, which have been weak for several years, picked up in 2007-08 as a result of GDP growth of 3.7 per cent and robust housing activity which saw dwelling commencements increase by 4.2 per cent over the year.
Consequently, apparent consumption of sawnwood increased by almost 9 per cent in 2007-08, as a result of a 12 per cent rise in coniferous sawnwood consumption (figure b). As well as higher domestic sawnwood production, the higher level of consumption was supplied by a large increase in coniferous sawnwood imports, particularly from Austria.

Trade

Overall, imports of forest products increased by 3.3 per cent in 2007-08 to $4.4 billion. Import growth was led by sawnwood, packaging and industrial paper, and paper manufactures. In the September and December quarters of 2008, imports of forest products recorded a strong rise, up by 11 per cent on the same period in 2007. The largest rises were imports of printing and writing paper and miscellaneous forest products, while the value of sawnwood imports fell slightly.
The total value of forest exports also increased strongly in 2007-08, by 5 per cent to reach $2.5 billion. This growth reflected a strong increase in exports of woodchips and recovered paper over the year (figure c). The value of woodchip exports increased by 13 per cent in 2007-08 to reach more than $1 billion for the first time, while the value of recovered paper exports increased by 44 per cent to $252 million.
Against this trend, forest product exports were down in several sectors. For instance, the trend of sawnwood and wood-based panels export growth in recent years reversed sharply in 2007-08, with the value of exports down by 17 per cent over the year. Wood-based panel exports were down 13 per cent in 2007-08, while paper and paperboard exports declined by 2 per cent.
Woodchip export prices remained strong in 2007-08, with broadleaved unit values up by 8 per cent to an average of $176 per bone dry tonne and coniferous prices up by 14 per cent to $165 per bone dry tonne. Woodchip export prices were also higher in the September and December quarters of 2008, up by 13 per cent for broadleaved woodchips and 25 per cent for coniferous woodchips. This led to an increase in the aggregate value of woodchip exports in these quarters, despite a decline in volume.
The volume of broadleaved woodchip exports in Western Australia rose strongly in the September and December quarters 2008, reflecting increased harvests from broadleaved plantations. This was partly offset by falls in broadleaved woodchip export volumes from Tasmania and New South Wales.
While broadleaved woodchip exports to the principal market of Japan rose slightly, the volume of exports to China and Chinese Taipei declined in the September and December quarters 2008, while exports to the Republic of Korea more than doubled.