China’s appetite for New Zealand export logs, driven by demand from the country’s construction sector has pushed up prices for a third straight month says AgriHQ’s latest monthly report.
The average wharf gate price for New Zealand A-grade logs rose up to $117 a tonne in November, from $113 a tonne in October, and well advanced of the $92 a tonne recorded in November 2015, reports the AgriHQ monthly survey of exporters, forest owners and saw millers.
Wood products are New Zealand’s third-largest commodity export group, and overseas market demand influences the rate of return to growers and also shipping costs as well as currency fluctuations.
“Exporters have continued to find firm interest from Chinese buyers through the past month,” according to AgriHQ analysts Reece Brick and Shaye Lee who say in their report. “Port-level inventories indicate that any downwards movement in CFR (cost-and-freight) pricing through into next year is unlikely.”
