NZ's monthly market report - August 2026 [NZ]Friday 21 Aug 2026
I acknowledge none of this suggests it is time to dig out the dancing shoes or pop the top off a bottle of champers, but the great news story is stability. China selling prices improved to US$127 A grade shorts basis for most sellers for August. Total inventory across the eastern seaboard is at 2.47mill m3, a drop of 50,000 m3 from June. As at early August, port offtake has been running at 57 – 58,000 m3 per day. These are very good numbers for this time of year, heralding well for continuing improvement with manufacturing output numbers usually better during the cooler Autumn period. The wood use numbers and trends in China are even better considering the Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) which fell to 48.5 in July compared to 50.4 in June. The China economy grew 4.3% YOY, the slowest it has been in three years. When the national productivity indices have been worsening, wood use has been improving. This is “encouraging news indeed”. NZ supply across our breakbulk log exports has been at a lower ebb but this mostly relates to Gisborne port. The number of days available for vessels to load has been significantly impacted by severe swells. This has not allowed vessels to berth to start loading or has meant they have had to cease loading. Meanwhile, our domestic sawmills continue to be shining beacons on the sea of tranquility. I hear Canterbury mills are the brightest beacons of the lot. Demand is strong and prices are stable to firm. Some out of the ordinary log grade orders are also indicative of more vibrant usage. Long may that continue! It was fantastic to see the NZ PM open the new Cross Laminated Timber (CLT) plant near Rotorua recently with some glowing words about the forestry sector now poised to enable the regular building of multi-story high quality and high strength buildings. The prospect of milling more logs in NZ is highly supported by the forestry sector. Research and innovation are the foundation stones of a dynamic change toward engineered wood products, whilst displacing the environmental nasties like steel and concrete. More >> Source: Allan Laurie, Laurie Forestry | ||
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