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Global Sawlog Price Index continues decline
March 4, 2016 – The strengthening U.S. dollar and declining lumber demand in Asian markets caused the Global Sawlog Price Index to decline in the fourth quarter of 2015 according to Wood Resources International.
March 4, 2016 By Andrew Macklin
The company released its Global Forest Industry report for the fourth quarter of 2015, where it was noted that the GSPI fell 4.8 per cent quarter over quarter.
Here are some of the key points in regards to the Canadian and U.S. markets:
• With the exception of the US South and New Zealand, softwood fiber prices were also down throughout the world in the 4Q/15. The declines ranged between two to ten percent from the previous quarter. The softwood price index (SFPI), was US$88.46/odmt, a reduction of 1.4% from the previous quarter.
• The biggest increases in pulp export in 2015 were in shipments from Brazil, Canada, the Netherlands and Russia.
• A majority of the 20 largest softwood lumber-consuming countries in the world increased their importation of lumber in 2015, resulting in global trade reaching its highest level in ten years. The US imported 10% more lumber year-over-year and a number of countries in Europe also raised their consumption of imported lumber last year. Lumber demand in Japan, the Middle East and Northern Africa was weaker, resulting in a decline in importation of lumber.
• The US lumber market was a bright spot as compared to most other regions of the world in 2015. Lumber consumption was up almost 5% and import volumes were 10% higher. The strong domestic market and a weakening Asian market also resulted in less lumber being exported.
• North American overseas pellet exports increased for the second consecutive quarter in the 3Q/15, rising 15% from the previous quarter to reach a new record high of just over 1.6 million tons, according to our sister publication North American Wood Fiber Review.
Global timber and wood market reporting is included in the 52-page quarterly publication Wood Resource Quarterly. The report, established in 1988 and with subscribers in over 30 countries, tracks sawlog, pulpwood, lumber and pellet prices, and market developments in most key regions around the world. To subscribe to the WRQ, please go to www.woodprices.com
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