Sales of sawn softwood declined 3.5% for the year-ended September 2015, compared with the prior year, falling to 2,635,948 m3, driven lower by what have largely been declines in sales of untreated structural pine. However, bucking this trend the monthly sales volume for September 2015 of 259,910 m3, was the second-highest recorded, falling just below sales in July 2014.
To go straight to the dashboard and take a closer look at the data, click here.
While seasonality is likely behind the recent uplift, analysis of the data shows that any sustained growth is at least three or four months away. With the rise of imports and also the growth in dwelling approvals that are less likely to use timber, that desirable sustained lift in domestic sawn softwood sales may not eventuate.
Perhaps of greater interest is the grades that are growing and the grades that are declining in sales. As outlined above, the major development is the decline of most of the structural grades, but importantly, not the H2F Treated grade, as the table for selected grades demonstrates.
The data above is all the more relevant because it shows that for the year ended September 2015, total sales of structural sawn softwood were 0.7% higher than for the year-ended September 2014. A year ago, H2F had accounted for 36.5% of the total. In September 2015, it had grown its share to 39.9%.
The trend may still be to softening domestic sales, but just as important, the trend is away from traditional structural products and towards the more recent arrival, the H2F treated structural wood products.
| YE Sep ‘14 (m3) | YE Sep ‘15 (m3) | YoY % Change | |
| Structural <120 | 778,995 | 744,787 | -4.39 |
| Structural >120 | 80,746 | 76,683 | -5.03 |
| LOSP | 11,220 | 8,717 | -22.31 |
| H2F | 500,432 | 550,170 | 9.94 |
| Total | 1,371,193 | 1,380,357 | 0.7 |
The data above is all the more relevant because it shows that for the year ended September 2015, total sales of structural sawn softwood were 0.7% higher than for the year-ended September 2014. A year ago, H2F had accounted for 36.5% of the total. In September 2015, it had grown its share to 39.9%.
The trend may still be to softening domestic sales, but just as important, the trend is away from traditional structural products and towards the more recent arrival, the H2F treated structural wood products.
