Global Conifer Sawlog Price Index Saw Its First Fall in The Third Quarter Since 2009

According to consultancy Wood Resources International (WRI), the global conifer sawlog price index saw its first fall in the the third quarter since early 2009. “With a few exceptions, prices fell in both local currencies and in US dollar terms, ” said WRI. The fall, it maintained, was due to weak market demand. The biggest declines were in Japan, Sweden, Poland and Russia, where prices fell 6-12% on the previous quarter. The three latter countries saw exports of lumber to Europe and Northern Africa fall this summer and autumn. Slow lumber sales and lower lumber production forecasts for winter have pushed wood costs down for sawmills across Europe and a number of Nordic producers have announced production cutbacks. Despite the decline, however, sawlog prices in Europe were still higher than the third quarter last year and for most markets have risen US$15-25/m³ in the last 12 months. In fact, mills are still paying close to the highest sawlog prices in 17 years, despite weaker lumber demand. And this discrepancy is expected to continue. Meanwhile, the biggest exception to the third quarter sawlog price fall was British Columbia. Its prices rose 5-7%. WRI attributed this to higher lumber exports and production. The price for coastal hemlock rose over 3%, while the price for spruce-pine-fir (SPF) logs in interior BC rose nearly 7%. Prices in both regions were the highest since the 2008 financial crisis. Source: ttjonline.com