Global log price index reaches 2-year high

The Global Sawlog Price Index (GSPI) increased for the fourth consecutive quarter in the 2Q 2013 to reach US$ 86.60/m³. The index based on sawlog prices in 20 regions around the world has gone up by 5.1% yoy and was at its highest level since the 4Q 2011, reports Wood Resource Quarterly (WRQ). The largest log price increases of up to 21% in the past year have been in regions that export logs or lumber to China, including the Western US, Western Canada and New Zealand. Northern and Eastern Europe, on the other hand, registered the biggest declines in log prices from 1Q 2013.

Exports of logs and lumber from North America to Asia reached a new high in the 2Q 2013 when over 700 million dollars worth of products were shipped over the Pacific Ocean. If this pace continues, 2013 will be the best year on record for log exporters on the US west coast since the mid-1990’s, WRQ-analyst Hakan Ekstrom says.

With New Zealand becoming the world’s largest log exporter, prices for sawlogs in the country have gone up dramatically over the past five years and in the 2Q 2013 were almost double those in 2009.