Ocean freight costs keep the lid on export log prices
Comments from Marcus Musson; Director of Forest360.
As we bid farewell to summer the foot is still firmly on the production throttle with March log pricing generally flat with February. Average A grade prices are around $145/m3 at wharf gate which is historically a short-lived price point before things turn to custard due to supply and demand imbalances. This year appears to be different thanks to the Chinese import bans on Australian logs, low inventory levels in China and subdued supply from other log producing countries. The expected influx of volume from Europe has not manifested due to a large snowfall in January and issues with container freight…
