ABARES plantation productivity summary
Friday 12 Dec 2025
Understanding productivity for the plantation forestry sector is
important when assessing both current performance and for looking to
possible future innovations in the sector. Productivity growth
is essential to offset the impact of climate change and drive the
competitiveness of the sector.
To date there are limited analyses of productivity change over time in
the plantation forestry sector – in large part due to challenges
linking inputs and outputs over the decades long life cycle of a
plantation.
The purpose of this report is to begin to describe productivity
improvements within the Australian plantation estate over the past 15 to
20 years. Comparisons of current and historical Mean Annual
Increment (MAI) estimates were chosen as a useful starting point for
analysis.
MAI is the average annual volume growth of a tree or stand of trees over
its entire age, calculated as the volume of logs harvested, divided by
the number of years since planting. In the context of an economic
analysis MAI can be considered a partial measure of productivity.
Insights from consultations with growers provide additional context on
drivers of and barriers and risks to productivity increases for the
sector.
Consultations with growers revealed a dynamic industry, with a focus on
harnessing technological improvements to at least maintain or improve
plantation growth rates and wood quality.
Key findings
- Softwood plantation MAIs have remained steady or shown moderate
increases over the past 15 years. Increases are strongest in South
Eastern Australia for Pinus radiata (P.
radiata). P. radiata is has the largest
plantation footprint, and is closely linked to the housing and
construction sector both of which allow a focus and scale of research
and innovation effort.
- Trends in hardwood plantation MAIs are mixed. Hardwood plantations
have a smaller footprint than softwood, are split between pulplog and
sawlog silviculture, and the hardwood plantation sector was established
more recently than the softwood plantation sector. This combination of
factors makes discerning clear trends in the hardwood estate
challenging.
- Growers described increases in MAI estimates have been driven by
improvements in plantation management (through silviculture, genetics,
research and innovation) and also supported by links along the supply
chain (improved harvesting and processing technology).
- Growers described adaptions made to manage physical, regulatory and
social licence risk, and highlighted the importance of proactive
adaption to increasing climate risks through a range of short and long
term investments.
Download the full report
Source & image credit: ABARES
FWPA has provided further insights on the
report.
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