Statistics Count

Log export challenges continue as New Zealand fills a gap
  Australia’s log exports remained under intense pressure in February, with exports falling to 129,713 m3, less than half the monthly average of the last year. With Chinese markets inaccessible, softwood log exports are taking the brunt of the pain. With exports totalling just 81,851 m3 for the month and hardwood log exports remaining relatively ...Read More

Sawn softwood imports lift
  Australia’s sawn softwood imports lifted to 48,651 m3 in February 2021, a six-month high and a rise of 18.5% on January’s imports. February’s average import price was AUDFob531/m3, stable with the prior month. Considered annually, imports totalled 500,727 m3 for the year-ended February 2021, up 5.5% on the year prior. As the chart shows, ...Read More

Softwood timber sales track toward record territory
Australia’s domestically produced sawn softwood sales totalled 3.144 million m3 year-ended February 2021. Up 0.7% on the prior month and a very solid 10.0% on the prior year. It must be anticipated that at current rates of growth, sales will be at annualised records, by the middle of the year. The current result is particularly ...Read More

Employment recovery continues: unemployment just 0.4% higher than pre-pandemic
  Australia’s unemployment rate dipped to 5.6%, in March 2021, continuing the employment recovery, as the economic bounce-back from the pandemic continues. Down from 5.8% the prior month, the unemployment rate is now just 0.4% higher than it was in March 2020, before the onset of the pandemic. That is the good – very good ...Read More

Riding the pipeline: work sure for a long time ahead
  Even at the end of December, work in the housing pipeline had lifted massively – and has only increased since then. The pipeline of housing construction work is full to bursting right now, with expectations that will continue for at least two more years, on the current approvals alone. In the December quarter of ...Read More

Housing finance continues to climb, as attention turns to the mid-term
  It is inevitable that, when new dwelling approvals are skyrocketing, lending activity will also be climbing. That is why there is only a little surprise that Australia’s lending finance is fast heading towards record levels. The total value of lending finance commitments has continued to climb, with first home buyers starting to lose out ...Read More

Housing demand: interest rates are in the driver’s seat
Australian housing prices are driven, almost exclusively it seems, by the level of interest rates. Latest data, from the RBA point to that, and models developed by an investment firm confirm the finding that, under a low interest rate environment, the average price of houses will lift by around 25% to the end of 2023. ...Read More

Detached housing approvals up 22.4% as market keeps growing
  Dwelling approvals continued their growth in February 2021, with total approvals up 23.4% on February 2020, totalling 18,931 separate approvals. Detached house approvals drove that increase, lifting 65% on the year earlier to a record 13,689 approvals. On an annualised basis, total approvals are up 7.0% to 188,590 dwellings, while houses are up 22.4% ...Read More

Positive Journey Continues for the Recovery
In recent articles, I have taken to using musical references to try and make sense of the economic data. GDP was up +3.1% for the Dec 20 quarter which was a very strong result and builds on the increase, in the Sept20 qtr of +3.4%. So, to quote the Renee Geyer song from the 70’s, ...Read More

Import value lifts to AUD1.824 billion year-ended June
Australia’s total imports of wood products were valued at AUD1.824 billion year-ended June, up a very modest 0.9% on the prior month, and still down a sizeable 13.4% on the prior year. The sole driver for the increased value of imports was sawn softwood products. As we can see here, the total annualised value of ...Read More