|
The principal market development considerations for the New Zealand forest industry are:
• An expanding wood resource.
• A small and relatively static domestic demand.
• Insufficient wood processing capacity in New
Zealand to match harvest capability.
Forestry export receipts of NZ$3.1 billion (2004) are about 11% of the country's total export income. But more importantly, their value increased steadily for 10 years until affected by unfavourable exchange fluctuations and high shipping costs in recent years.
Domestic Market
New Zealand's population of just over 4 million, plus its small manufacturing and remanufacturing base, limit the industry's domestic opportunities. The construction industry is the principal user of solid wood products - servicing around 20,000 new house starts annually.
| Local Wood Product Consumption |
| (Approx. - Annual) |
|
|
| Sawn lumber |
2,670,000 |
m3 |
|
|
| Plywood |
225,000 |
m3 |
|
|
| Reconstituted wood panels |
325,000 |
m3 |
|
|
| Newsprint |
117,000 |
m3 |
|
|
| Paper and paperboard |
839,000 |
m3 |
|
|
| Total domestic consumption |
4,176,000 |
m3 |
|
|
Export Markets
Wood product exporters have largely targeted the rapidly growing markets of South and East Asia and Australia. Eighty percent of exports by value go to only five markets – Japan, Korea, China, the United States and Australia.
The product mix remains heavily commodity based, with logs, sawn lumber and pulp and paper making up 75% of export value. However, a group of 'other' wood products such as panels, and furniture components, are exported to more than 50 countries. |