New Zealand, a leading softwood log exporter in the world, has increased its log shipments to India and South Korea during the first five months of 2016, while exports to China were down, reports the Wood Resource Quarterly (WRQ).

Wood Resource Quarterly (WRQ) is a leading source for global wood price data and market information.

With total shipments trending higher, log export prices have gone up by 36 per cent from September of 2015 to May 2016, said the report.

New Zealand continues to be the world’s leading exporter of softwood logs followed by Russia and the US. These three countries accounted for almost 50 per cent of globally traded logs in 2015, with a majority being destined for the Chinese market, according to WRQ.

New Zealand is exporting over 50 per cent of the country’s total harvest in log form. In 2015, New Zealand exported 14.7 million m3 of radiata pine logs, of which almost ten million m3 was shipped to China. This was down from a record high of almost 12 million m3 in 2013, it said.

In late 2015 and early 2016, Chinese log buyers became more active in the New Zealand log market with shipments increasing from 1.8 million m3 in the 3Q/15 to 2.5 million m3 in the 1Q/16, it added.

However, during the first five months of 2016, total New Zealand shipments to Asia have increased slightly with 2016 year-to-date volumes being 2 per cent higher than the same period in 2015. The biggest rises so far this year have been in shipments to India and South Korea, while exports to China were down 10 per cent.

The good news for log exporters in New Zealand over the past 12 month has been the steady increase in log export prices. The average log export price in May of this year was 36 per cent higher than its six year low in September last year. The FOB prices for the major destinations in May 2016 had converged to a range of $100-106/m3, reported WRQ.

Over the past four years, prices for logs exported to Asia have been on a roller-cost ride, averaging just over $90/m3 in 2012, reaching an all-time high of $130/m3 in the 1Q/14, falling to $82/m3 in the 3Q/15 (the lowest level since 2010), then rising significantly in early 2016. These export log price fluctuations have strongly impacted the price trends for both sawlogs and pulplogs consumed by the domestic forest industry in New Zealand over the past ten years, it added. – TradeArabia News Service