Global timber market review #15\16-2015

– Poland has expressed interest in selling the state-owned plywood manufacturer Sklejka Orzechowo SA (formerly OZPS), Fordaq reported. It is one of the last domestic timber enterprises fully owned by the State Treasury. The privatization process is associated with long litigations that have lasted since 1991.

– Wood-based panels giant Egger and University of Göttingen jointly developed so-called unoriented-strand boards (USB) made of soft hardwoods such as silver birch, alder, poplar and willow. The project, which was funded by the German ministry of food and agriculture, is to help making better material use of the fairly large, untapped German resources of soft hardwoods which account for roughly 10% of German forestlands. According to a press release issued by Fachagentur für Nachwachsende Rohstoffe (FNR), a government agency charged with the implementation of the project, the results were very positive.

– Norske Skog has recently acquired Nature’s Flame, the market leader for wood pellets in New Zealand. The company has a domestic market share of around 70%. Initially, Norske Skog will lift the annual production at the company from 20,000 tonnes to 80,000 tonnes by year-end 2016.

– The price of ENplusA1 wood pellets in Austria continued the slight upward trend which began in June.

– The price of New Zealand logs held steady from June to July. The average wharf gate price of A-grade logs stood at NZ$86 per tonne, according to AgriHQ’s monthly survey of exporters, forest owners and sawmillers. Still, the outlook for demand in China, the country’s largest market, remains uncertain.

More detailed review of global market trends of roundwood, lumber, wood panels and pellets as well as news of the Russian timber industry; exclusive articles and interviews; over 25 pages of price charts are available in our digital Russian Timber Journal.