The forest industry in the US South has attracted increased interest and investment over the past few years. This relatively newfound attention is a result of the region's competitive advantage over many countries worldwide. The benefits come primarily from the region's surplus of timber supply, efficient infrastructure, and low wood costs.<\/p>\n
The population of the southern states is also growing faster than elsewhere in the US; thus, demand for most forest products is expected to increase as consumers purchase houses, buy new furniture, remodel their homes.<\/p>\n
Softwood fiber costs for pulpmills in the US South are currently the third-lowest in the world, behind only Latin America and Russia. Sawmills pay less for logs than most regions of North America and Europe. Log costs in the South are not only low, but they have also been relatively stable for a long time. Even in early 2021's red-hot lumber market, sawlog prices remained low and only saw modest regional increases. The steady price trends in the southern states contrasts with other regions of North America and Europe, where sawlog prices were substantially higher in the 3Q\/21 than in the same quarter of 2020. The average log price jumped about 50% y-oy in Western Canada and 12% in the US Northwest. The major lumber-producing countries in Europe saw their log costs increase between 15-65% from 2020 to 2021.<\/p>\n
The average sawlog prices for the US South have ranged in a narrow spread in nominal terms since 2007. During the same period, the Global Sawlog Price Index (GSPI), representing 22 regions worldwide, has fluctuated between $71\/m3 and $87\/m3.<\/p>\n
In 2021, the GSPI has been substantially higher than the average price in the US South. However, there are intra-regional differences throughout the South, with prices in the Atlantic states generally having increased more than the Gulf states in 2021. Notably, sawlog costs rose between 12% and 22% from the 3Q\/20 to the 3Q\/21 in North Carolina, Georgia, and Florida, according to the Timber-Mart South.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The forest industry in the US South has attracted increased interest and investment over the past few years. This relatively newfound attention is a result of the region’s competitive advantage over many countries worldwide. The benefits come primarily from the … Continue reading