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The price of diesel has led to some forestry harvests being halted around the country. In the worst cases, managers say forest owners would make no return – or a loss – because heavy machinery has become so expensive to run. Source: 1News Farm Forestry Association president Dougal Morrison told 1News the latest figures from ports today showed a 30% reduction in log volumes compared to previous months. “That’s huge,” he said, attributing the drop to diesel prices. “Fuel is used in the harvesting equipment and you’ve got the transport – the logging trucks on the roads – and the ships exporting the logs as well.” Northland company Tree People has no more felling booked after this month, as all clients halted harvesting work. “It doesn’t make sense for them to harvest on the day that high fuel prices means that their forest isn’t worth anything,” Director Peter Davies-Colley said. His staff would do tree maintenance instead but there were concerns other employers wouldn’t be able to keep workers on. “The major crisis for our industry is when you lose that skillset because you don’t build these teams quickly.” Morrison said: “Even though [workers] might have gone through all the formal training and qualifications, suddenly they’re not able to use them. It makes it very hard for them.” Hundreds of millions of dollars were estimated to have been spent in recent years, across the industry in Aotearoa, on upgrading machinery for safer work and efficiency. Forest Industry Contractors Association chief executive Rowan Struthers said: “Since about 2013, probably NZ$300 million or so has been invested, capital has been invested, and most of that investment has come from contractors. “These contractors are family-owned businesses… That might own two to three crews, anywhere from 10 to 30 employees. These are the group that are most at risk during this fuel crisis because of the level of capital investment that they’ve made.” While electrification would be part of the future, it was still being tested here, he said, with trials of electric loaders, and electric log trucks, and hybrid harvest machinery. Otago logging contractor Steve Jones told 1News his work was still continuing currently but he had “sleepless nights” watching the US president’s decisions – and diesel spiking up to NZ$4 a litre – while trying to manage forest contracts. “Because you just don’t know, when the guy over there mentions a word, and the price goes up 30 cents.” Forest360 director Marcus Musson said beyond logging crews, he was also concerned for mills. “There are a lot of sawmills out there that are having to take shifts out because they simply don’t have the log availability anymore.”

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The Forestry Centre of Excellence in the Green Triangle will host its first Annual Showcase next month which formally marks the public opening of the new $6.8 million centre, highlighting its role as a national platform for applied research, technology demonstration and commercial pathway development. Source: Timberbiz To be held on Wednesday 13 and Thursday 14 May 2026 at the newly established FCoE building in Mount Gambier, the event will bring together a national cohort of growers, processors, contractors, researchers, technology providers and policymakers to explore how industry-led, locally delivered, research is shaping the future of Australia’s plantation forestry sector. Hosted by Professor Jeff Morrell and Centre manager Dr Jim O’Hehir, the showcase will cover themes including new technology for grower management, timber processing innovation, silvicultural innovation, forest health monitoring, and workforce safety. Professor Morrell said the showcase reflects the centre’s ambition to deliver impact at scale, working in close collaboration with the local forestry sector. “This event aims to demonstrate the national capability available from our regional base,” he said. “The Forestry Centre of Excellence exists to solve real problems for industry, accelerate innovation and support the long-term competitiveness of Australia’s forestry sector. These themes will be explored across the two-day showcase, headlined by many of our talented researchers, amongst other industry leaders.” The two-day program includes: Wednesday 13 May – Field Demonstrations and Networking An optional field-based program will showcase silvicultural trials and applied research in action, alongside hands-on demonstrations of emerging technologies including drones, LiDAR, water monitoring, virtual reality and advanced forest assessment tools. The day will conclude with an informal networking dinner at the Bob and Gayle Cowan Auditorium at the Adelaide University Mt Gambier campus. Thursday 14 May – Industry Research Showcase The main showcase will feature keynote presentations, applied research case studies and parallel breakout sessions focused on: technology-enabled forestry and data-driven decision-making timber processing and next-generation engineered wood products grower productivity, climate resilience and silviculture forest health, biosecurity and long-term surveillance.   Presentations will span topics such as climate-ready tree breeding, biochar and circular economy opportunities, artificial intelligence, immersive analytics, worker safety systems and advanced forest health intelligence. The event will conclude with a panel session, exploring industry’s long-term vision for the centre. Professor Morrell said the Centre’s success depend on collaboration. “We are deliberately industry-facing. This Showcase is as much about listening as it is about presenting – so industry can help shape the Centre’s priorities over the next decade and beyond,” he said. The Forestry Centre of Excellence is a partnership between the South Australian Government, Adelaide University, the Green Triangle Forest Industries Hub and the SA Forest Products Association. To learn more about the Annual Showcase visit www.forestrycoe.com.au  

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April has been a month of some amazing highs and lows. Uncertainty prevails with the forestry sector sitting firmly with food and fibre growers throughout the mighty NZ as we all attempt to grapple with how we manage elevated fuel prices. As at mid-April, diesel prices are coming off some ridiculous highs as the sentiment driven brent crude consistently remains below US$100 per barrel. Nice to see fuel companies only badly gouging us rather than royally gouging as they were March to mid-April. Another good news story is some reports suggesting some of those closest to the Red one in the White House are concerned he might be mentally challenged. They appear to be slow to learn in that neck of the woods… The forestry supply chain has had to dig deep in April to ensure as little as possible impact on forest growers. Loggers and truckers look to be the ones digging the hardest, accepting rate increases to do work that do not cover diesel cost increases. Ultimately the forest owners have the ability to call a stop harvest if their net returns fall below acceptability, so everyone has had to recognise that he/she who owns the wood calls the shots and they need to be kept happy. In April, domestic log prices have had to lift and for the most part sawmill owners have recognised the need to keep the saw blades turning. We have also seen lifts in log prices in China and India, with customer concerns NZ supply will slow if they do not accept increases. In NZ, despite the drive to keep going, many harvest operations, particularly those at some distance from ports, have been suspended. This is the direct consequence of the heighted cost of a litre of diesel. Despite market forces remaining in reasonable alignment, a decrease in total forest harvest is the current order of the day, with a 7 to 10% volume drop compared to March depending on who you talk to. Ultimately that will positively impact the wider market where oversupply would otherwise quickly see selling prices drop. International shipping continues to be the biggest talking point. Ships use a fuel product called Bunker. In early April we saw Singapore Bunker rates drop from US1,200 per tonne to currently about US$700 per tonne. High charter rates were being resisted, but the key driver appeared to be market sentiment. Fortunately for us, the fuel companies put their handkerchiefs back in their pockets and log vessel daily hire rate negotiations swung back to the charterers. A key driver here was for almost 2 weeks, there was one only charter confirmed for a vessel for NZ logs where there is typically 50+ per month. Clearly charterers were collectively put fixing vessels on hold until supply/demand 101 kicked in and rates quickly dropped USD 3 – 4 per m3. Out of the mire of uncertainty, the one stable element has been log usage in China. Despite the doom and gloom merchants suggesting the China economy experiencing all sorts of problems, daily usage of our wonderful Radiata pine logs has been chugging along at 65,000 m3. This is above expectation resulting in an inventory drop to around 2.7mil m3, down 400K from February. Most expect consumption rates to drop as the hotter months approach and RMB/USD exchange rates have started to negatively impacted China exporters. On balance, most commentators have suggested CFR rates (the cost of logs landed in China) have reached a high point at/about USD128 per m3 A grade basis. Some are suggesting the market egg is just starting to show some minor cracking at the current levels. This confirms NZ exporters certainly do not want to be pushing higher. In India market prices have been improving, as at mid-April sitting around USD152 per m3 A grade basis. The major challenge for the India market right now is shipping, with very stiff competition for other bulk cargos and the cost much higher than China voyages. Some ship owners are resisting log cargos with some stating the Strait of Hormoz is just 1500km from Kandla port entrance where NZ logs all head to. I suspect this is a tool for negotiating rather than any sort of real safety concerns. As always, please remember the thoroughly important message. “It remains, as always, fundamentally important, the only way forward for climate, country and the planet, is to get out there and plant more trees.” Allan Laurie, Managing Director, Laurie Forestry.

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