Australia's next timber opportunity is engineered [AU]Friday 2 Oct 2026
The strongest housing growth is no longer concentrated in detached homes. In 2025, townhouse approvals increased by 20.5 per cent, while approvals for four-to-eight-storey buildings increased by 70.5 per cent. By comparison, house approvals increased by just 1.9 per cent. These figures point to a construction market that is becoming more reliant on multi-residential, mid-rise and higher-density formats. That matters because these buildings require construction systems that can deliver greater consistency, precision and productivity. They create an opportunity for products that can be engineered, standardised and manufactured off site before being assembled efficiently on site. Engineered wood products are increasingly part of that opportunity. But the market data shows that Australia is currently meeting much of its growing EWP demand through imports. The latest analysis by IndustryEdge shows, in 2025–26, Australia imported $1.941 billion of major wood products, an increase of 10.8 per cent, or $189 million, on the previous year. Engineered wood products accounted for $676.9 million of that total, up 6.2 per cent. This occurred despite a relatively modest increase in housing approvals and otherwise unremarkable demand conditions. In other words, the increase cannot be explained simply by a construction boom. It points to a deeper shift in the products being specified, purchased and used in Australian construction. The clearest example is the growing consumption of Laminated Veneer Lumber - LVL. Formally reported imports reached 254,065 cubic metres in 2025–26, growing from 167,229 cubic metres in 2024–25 compared with 95,919 cubic metres in 2022–23 – a three year increase of more than 160 per cent. It’s estimated total LVL imports will exceed 300,000 cubic metres annually in the near term. The value of those imports reached $159.9 million in 2025–26. Yet the average import price fell to $629 per cubic metre, down from $821 the previous year and $1,294 in 2022–23. That combination: rapidly increasing volumes and falling prices, is significant. It suggests that overseas manufacturers are not simply supplying a temporary shortfall, they are establishing a stronger position in the Australian market. LVL is not the only engineered or manufactured wood product experiencing this pressure. Plywood imports increased to 656,014 cubic metres in 2025–26, up from 525,599 cubic metres the previous year. MDF imports reached 183,547 cubic metres, compared with 122,921 cubic metres in 2024–25. In both cases, import volumes rose sharply while average import prices fell. Taken together, the figures show an important change in Australia’s timber market. The rise of engineered wood products is not a distant prospect: they are already being consumed at significant and growing volumes. The market is rapidly forming now, but the majority of the manufacturing capacity supplying the demand is being delivered offshore. More >> Source & image credit: The Precinct | ||
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