Local softwood sales slip below the 3 million m³ mark

Local sawn softwood sales dipped below the 3 million m3 per annum mark in 2022, declining to their lowest annual total since June 2020. The dip to 2.996 million m3 continued a year-long and gradual decline as the market softens marginally, but supply continues to be constrained.

Across the last three years, annualised softwood sales have ridden stormy conditions, with disastrous fires followed by runaway demand and processing of salvage logs, leading into a sustained period of production, where everything that could be produced was able to be sold, as the chart below shows.

As sales declined, just two grades were able to record sales growth over the last year. Treated Structural >120 mm saw sales lift 1.55%, but to place that in context, that amounted to a rise of just more than 1,100 m3 for the year. The other grade able to expand was ‘Ungraded’ which lifted 6.79% or a little short of 18,000 m3, to end 2022 with sales of 280,2110 m3.

Leaving aside the growth in Treated Structural >120mm, the national sales experience for structural grades was significantly lower than for the prior year, as the table here shows.

Structural Softwood Sales: 2021 v 2022

There is every prospect the table shows the market something reflecting its future shape.