Log exports ease lower – down 3.0% YE August

Australia’s total log exports are easing down, declining 3.0% over the year-ended August, falling back to 4.379 million m3. The significant falls have been in the smaller dimension (<15 cm diameter) pine logs, exports of which have reduced progressively over the last year. Meanwhile, eucalyptus log exports totalled 629,978 m3 over the year.

The chart below shows Australia’s total log exports and clearly demonstrate they have commenced tracking down.

To go straight to the dashboard and take a closer look at the data, click here.

Turning specifically to the dominant species for export – softwood – we can see that exports have turned down, after their steady rise through to around mid-2017.

The chart below shows softwood log exports, on an annualized basis, by type, over the last two years. It should be noted that until January 2017, softwood log exports were reported as a single grade, and have only subsequently been reported by the grades we will set out below.

To go straight to the dashboard and take a closer look at the data, click here.

The grade specific details are set out in the table below. Because there are not two complete years of data, year-end comparisons are not available, except in aggregate.

Over the last year, as total softwood log exports have fallen, the grade that has declined most significantly is Softwood logs <15 cm diameter, as the green band shows in the above chart.

Segmentation of logs – within the trade data, that is – by diameter, only commenced in January of 2017. After a period in which the exports were relatively higher and peaked at 118,418 m3 in May 2017, exports have slipped back significantly, and over the last year, averaged just more than half that level, at 63,796 m3 per month.

Turning our eyes back to the chart we can see that by contrast, the larger dimension >15 cm diameter) pine logs have been much more stable, averaging 216,149 m3 over the year-ended August 2018.