Vol 17 No 1
March 2011
ISSN 1173-5899
New era in wood building emerging from dust of natural disasters
Multi-storey wood building’s future Testing time for NZ wood’s strength Australia backs research push Wood builds higher profile in Chile
2 4 6 7 Source: Corma
Southern Hemisphere Forest Markets Market data by country: Chile, New Zealand, Australia and South Africa MAF log prices
Pages 8-11 Page 12
© The Southern Hemisphere Forest Industry Journal is published by Trade and Media Services Ltd. Street address: 5 High Street, Rotorua 3201, New Zealand. Mail address: PO Box 6215, Whakarewarewa, Rotorua, New Zealand Tel: 64-7-349 4107; Fax: 64-7-349 4157; Email: info@southem.com; www.southem.com Editor and Director: Michael R. SmithForest Industry Journal Vol. 17 No. 1 1 Southern Hemisphere March 2011
New era in wood building emerging from dust of natural disasters By Mike Smith
E
ven without the pull from an unfortunate series of natural disasters, wood is starting to be increasingly pushed to the forefront in discussions around the future shape of tall buildings. Nobody is getting themselves too excited at this stage. After all, concrete and steel construction methods for multi-storey building systems are cemented, if you will excuse the word, into the fabric of the engineering and architecture professions. However, the discussion is ongoing and officials have started to become engaged in reviewing the ways in which wood can contribute to the built-environment involving more than the traditional commercial structures. The sight of crushed and broken traditionallybuilt commercial structures following earthquakes in Christchurch, New Zealand, and earlier in Chile, has helped to propel the discussion around the merits of wood buildings to a new level. MULTI-STOREY WOOD BUILDING’S FUTURE One of the world’s leading proponents of using wood in tall buildings, Michael Green, was in Australia not long after February’s Christchurch earthquake to address the “Green Cities”, annual conference and expo focusing on sustainability for the built environment. About a year earlier he had been in New Zealand, spending much of his time in the South Island mountain biking with his son. They were in Christchurch for much of the time, hanging out at the plaza adjacent to the historical Christchurch Cathedral brought close to ruin in the earthquake. “It was really hard to watch the pictures and see what happened,” Michael Green said during a phone call interview from his office in Vancouver, British Columbia. While at the “Green Cities” event in Australia, Michael Green argued strongly for timber as a superior alternative to concrete and steel for everything from the standard home to high-rise buildings. As a result, he has been invited to a forest industry conference in New Zealand in the southern hemisphere spring to speak on the topic and discuss with other authorities regarding the Christchurch rebuild. Michael Green is a partner in the firm McFarlane
Green Biggar Architecture + Design Inc and he said developing taller buildings in wood was something he had been working on for many years. “I have started to really believe we need to focus on not just on renewable energy as part of the climate change conversation but also the very fundamentals about what we choose to build with.” “Steel and concrete have been the incumbent materials for very tall buildings for about a century, so there’s been no real reason for questioning those materials.” That is, until there was greater understanding of the impact of man-made climate change and the reality that concrete is at least 5% of world carbon, and steel is highly energy intensive and takes about 4% of world energy. At the same time, the property of wood in being able to store carbon gained greater understanding. “So when we have a look at climate change, we know we’ve to find ways to reduce emissions and find ways to store carbon. “The difficulty facing architects was that while it was exciting that wood provided an option in storing carbon, they had to figure out ways to make it competitive with steel and concrete, which is what we really started out to do a few years ago.” The principles behind more medium-sized wooden buildings had helped in the conversion required to take steel and concrete out of the biggest buildings of the future and instead build them as tall wood structures. In this context, he and others around the world had been promoting the idea that it was timely to look at a systematic change in the way we build and it was really very exciting to find this was possible. “There are new ways of building and the radical shift is that we’ve moved away from wood stud construction – ‘stick frame’ as we call it – and moved towards mass timber, which is solid panels of solid thick wood and that departure towards this mass timber type product is really a game changer. It’s allowing us to address a number of issues about building bigger, taller buildings – buildings that perform well in fire, buildings that perform well acoustically from floorto-floor and between floors, because they are made of these solid, mass timber pieces.”
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Such buildings were ultimately cost competitive and fundamentally buildings that were carbon neutral or even storing carbon. Michael Green said it was an exciting time for architecture and engineering. “We are at the real beginning of this ability to look at structures in a whole new way. We’ve never had a reason to need to do that but today we’ve a huge reason and incentive to do that, as long as we source wood from sustainably managed forests.” For all the excitement, Michael Green admitted that current construction methods had a long history, which influenced thinking. Included in that history were a number of “catastrophic” fires involving large wood buildings, such as in Chicago in the late 1800s. “The image that was painted around the world was that wood burns and, of course, it burns and burns when the buildings are in small scale. But in buildings made with heavy timber, they are designed not to have the same problem. Along came steel and concrete and all of a sudden, the issue of fire felt like less of an issue, because a non-combustible material was being used instead.” Not only did steel and concrete building have incredible properties that would allow designers to span greater distances and build to greater heights, but also they didn’t burn. “Now we know that they do (burn) and we have to protect them from fire like we have to protect wooden buildings. But that pre-conception meant that architects and engineers immediately jumped on the bandwagon after the industrial revolution to use steel and concrete.” There was no reason, while they were available, to question the use of steel and concrete, he said, because there were good materials and they would continue to be good materials into the future. “It is just today we’ve an understanding that we need to find alternative materials and reduce their use if we are going to address climate change.” Going back 125 years, it was possible to understand how the move to start building in steel and concrete reflected how the changes in how the design community at the time of the industrial revolution began to view cities. This enthusiasm for using these new materials was what eventually became known as modern architecture. “It became the opportunity to build skyscrapers,
March 2011
London’s nine-storey Murray Grove building. Source: Waugh Thistleton Architects. long-span bridges and things we’d never conceived of and that enthusiasm was something that was really important. Today, what I would argue is that we are at that same point that steel and concrete was at 100 years ago, we are at that point with wood.” He compared the current times to what occurred when the wrought iron “era” changed with the introduction of steel in building, so that all of sudden building became a lot bigger and had a lot more capacity. “We are at that same point where wood is about to transition from the material we saw historically to very new ways of thinking about it and a different scale of thinking about the building opportunities. Engineering and architecture might see how exciting it is and join in this conversation and explore innovation and explore opportunities.” He agreed that it was not just a matter of converting wooden buildings into different versions of steel and concrete buildings and it was whole ‘re-think” about the way buildings were built and what they stood for. “Its right back to the beginning principles and what’s exciting about that is that with steel and concrete we know how to use it and we kind of take that for granted. As an architect, when we are designing a building, we know the basic materials and what those materials can do but what is happening in wood is that we are right back to the basic principles.” So there were various ways evolving for building with using new wood materials, such mass timber panels, able to show what was possible.
Southern Hemisphere Forest Industry Journal Vol. 17 No. 1 3
Testing times for NZ wood’s strength
W
hile Chile and New Zealand have been in the news for the impact natural disasters have had on thinking around building design, discussions have started in other countries as well, such as Australia and Brazil. In one of the those weird coincidences scientific expertise in New Zealand reached the point where a serious discussion has started on standardising multi-storey wooden building at about the same time the country was slammed by the Christchurch earthquakes in September 2010 and February 2011. A further coincidence was that much of this research is being carried out by the Department of Civil and Natural Resources Engineering, University of Canterbury, in Christchurch. The coincidences were further highlighted, because Canterbury is not the shakiest main city in the country known by some as “the shaky isles” – that honour goes to the capital, Wellington In 2010, the Canterbury researchers published a “Multistorey Timber Buildings Seismic Design Guide” written by Michael Newcombe, a PhD candidate at the university. The guide says it provides worked examples on the seismic design of traditional and new-generation multi-storey buildings, with a target audience ranging from graduate engineers to experienced engineers who may infrequently design in timber. The examples discussed are as follows: 1. Simple procedures for determining the design lateral loads for a regular light timber frame multistorey building. The design example considers a “force-based” and a “displacement-based” design philosophy generally applicable to regular structures. 2. A plywood shear wall, firstly for strength under ultimate limit state loads and, secondly, the wall displacements are checked for both ultimate limit state conditions. 3. A hypothetical solid timber frame and wall are designed. The frames are designed for strength under the ultimate limit state loads and the displacements are checked for serviceability limit state conditions using simplified methods. 4. A preliminary design of a post-tensioned frame is performed using a displacement-focused approach. The example given includes how to determine the lateral forces using a “force-based” and “displacement-based” approach plus how to design the members and post-tensioning.
5. The section on “post-tensioned” walls coupled by U-shaped flexural plates is said to be a structural system which has recently received a lot of attention from practicing structural engineers within New Zealand and “is perceived as an attractive structural system for several future building projects”. The “post-tensioned coupled timber walls” system mentioned in the guide was used for in construction of three-storey timber building at the Nelson and Marlborough Institute of Technology campus at the top of New Zealand’s South Island. This project featured in the August 2010 edition of the New Zealand Journal of Forestry (which the author publishes on behalf of the NZ Institute of Forestry), the month prior to the sequence of earthquakes started in Christchurch. As editor Piers Maclaren noted in an introduction to a series of articles on the topic, laminated veneer lumber has made it possible to overcome one of wood’s major drawbacks in that its individuality and complexity means no stick of timber is exactly the same as any other. “LVL technology is more reliable than the natural product and is many times stiffer and stronger than traditional sawn timber. The compression strength along the [LVL] grain is equal to concrete; it is dimensionally stable and resists warping and twisting.” Whereas it was once accepted that during earthquakes concrete would shatter and steel would buckle, more recent thinking also focused on saving the structures. In a LVL-based structure the columns, beams and “shear walls” would remain intact, with energy being dissipated through “sacrificial” steel plates. The plates deform and heat up during quakes but can be easily replaced. Michael Green, when interviewed, noted that one of the main public (and professional) concerns about multi-storey wooden buildings has been their susceptibility to fire hazards. In his article, Piers Morgan wrote that large wood beams “are surprisingly fireresistant. Fire tended to char the outside of beams rather than burn deeply. In a direct comparison was made with traditional structures, with wood retaining its load-bearing strength much longer during a fire – unlike steel, which loses strength quickly with a rise in temperature. “Unlike steel, the use of LVL requires no additional fire protection,” he noted. GLOBAL WARMING AND STRENGTH An important trigger for the renewed interest in wood has been the global need to combat in the impact of climate change.
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The University of Canterbury was earlier involved with the forest-based government research agency, Scion, in preparing a report on “Environmental Impacts of Multi-Storey Buildings Using Different Construction Materials”. The report was written under contract to the NZ Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry (MAF), with a contributor coming from Victoria University of Wellington. The research project reported modelled the performance of four similar office building designs in concrete, steel, timber and “TimberPlus” based on an actual six-storey 4,200 square metre building. Two aspects were investigated – the influence of construction materials on life cycle energy use and global warming potential (GWP)*. GWP was defined as follows: “The global warming potential is an expression of the contribution of a product or service to climate change. An internationally agreed characterisation model exists for the calculation of the Global Warming Potential. This has been published by the IPCC.” The four buildings were designed to have a 60-year lifetime and each had a very similar low operational energy consumption. The buildings in concrete and steel materials used conventional structural design and construction methods, while the timber building design employed an “innovative” post-tensioned timber structure using LVL. The “TimberPlus” design used more timber in architectural features such as exterior cladding, windows and ceilings. As could be expected in such a study, all timber materials were renewable and durable, and sourced from sustainably managed forests. The construction times for each building was predicted to be similar. The researchers found that increasing the amount of timber in the buildings decreased the initial embodied energy and GWP of materials and also decreased the total energy consumption and GWP over the 60-year lifetime. “The TimberPlus design clearly had the lowest environmental impacts, whilst the steel building had the highest impacts. A significant benefit could be obtained in steel, concrete and timber buildings by replacing higher embodied energy components (especially aluminium windows and louvres) with timber.” What happened to the buildings after the 60-year life-cycle was also important in terms of the final destination of destruction waste. Landfilling timber
March 2011
waste, for example, with the permanent storage of most of the carbon in the timber, was slightly more beneficial than burning wood waste for energy. Recycling steel and concrete was more beneficial than land filling. There are a couple of twists, however. It was found that looking at a single environmental indicator like GWP could lead to unintended outcomes. The TimberPlus building would be slightly better in terms of climate change with the landfilling scenario. However, when the energy results were put alongside the GWP results, the “reutilisation” (recycling) scenario showed an energy reutilisation benefit as well as being beneficial to climate change. “Therefore, the use of multiple indicators may be necessary to inform the environmental decisionmaking process.” In addition, an alternative end-of-life scenario assuming permanent storage of carbon in wood materials showed net total GWP for the materials in the TimberPlus building was negative. This is because the long-term storage of over 630 tonnes of carbon dioxide removed from the atmosphere more than cancelled out all the greenhouse gases emitted during the manufacture of all other building materials. “In this scenario, the TimberPlus building could be considered to be ‘carbon-neutral’ for at least the fist 12 years of its operation.” BUILDING STANDARDS Standards New Zealand publishes two standards that may be of specific interest in discussing multistorey wooden buildings. They are as follows: NZS 3604:2011 Timber-framed buildings (focuses on timber-framed buildings up to 3 storeys), Provides methods and details for the design and construction of timber-framed structures not requiring specific engineering design. This Standard applies to residential buildings up to three-storeys high including multi-residential buildings, some commercial buildings and freestanding, uninhabited garages. NZS 3603:1993 Timber structures Standard Sets out in limit state design format the requirements for methods of design of timber elements of buildings and applies specifically to sawn timber, glue laminated timber, natural round timber and construction plywood. Includes a section on design for fire resistance.
Southern Hemisphere Forest Industry Journal Vol. 17 No. 1 5
A report on the first stage of the project was presented prepared for Forest & Wood Products Australia (FWPA) - a “not for profit company that provides a national, integrated research and development focus” for the Australian industry. (Source: fwpa.com. au)
The Brewery Site in Melbourne, Australia, where Grocon plans a 10-storey wood-based “Passive House” apartment building. Source: Grocon. Earthquakes in Christchurch have led to the understanding that damage to the non-residential sector is “extensive”, with current Treasury estimates at NZ$3 billion for commercial and NZ$3 billion for infrastructure, according to the Department of Building and Housing. This is on top of an estimate of NZ$9 billion damage to the residential sector. However, the timing and extent of the repair and rebuild work is not clear,” said the department in reference to commercial and infrastructure. “Few CBD [central business district] building owners will be in a position to make major repair or rebuild decisions before the end of 2011 and this will delay building and construction work.” Uncertainty over insurance, and reinsurance, and the costs involved, are key factors in decision-making around the rebuild. In many cases decisions will have to be made over whether or not to completely demolish buildings in the CBD. Major questions yet to be answered over the suitability of land in the city for any rebuild and “decisions on future land use will impact on rebuild opportunities”. Given the authorities’ apparent reluctance to make tough decisions on whether or what rebuild on land in shakier parts of Christchurch, it may be that they could gain some comfort from insisting that commercial rebuilding should have a large component of wood in it. AUSTRALIA BACKS RESEARCH PUSH In Australia, work has started on a “multi-stage” research and development initiative focusing on development of efficient and innovative structural systems using timber to provide an alternative to steel and concrete systems on the non-residential building market.
FWPA is also a substantial funder of a new consortium called Structural Timber Innovation Company (or STIC), which was established to develop and commercialise new technologies that will enable structural timber to compete more effectively in the non-residential industrial and commercial building sector markets in Australia and New Zealand. The other major funder in the Foundation for Research Science and Technology, the New Zealand Government research funding agency which is matching all industry investments in the programme dollar-fordollar. The University of Canterbury is one of the seven shareholders set up as a New Zealand registered company, along with companies Carter Holt Harvey, Nelson Pine Industries and Wesbeam. Industry agency shareholders include BRANZ and NZ Pine Manufacturers Association, and they are joined by the University of Auckland’s Auckland Uniservices Ltd. Most publicity in Australia has surrounded plans for the building of a “Passive House” apartment building designed to be 10-storeys high, with 50 apartments. To be known as Delta, the building is being dubbed “the greenest building in Australia” by major building company, Grocon Ltd. Delta will be carbon neutral and built entirely from timber with a Carlton Brewery site, above heritage-listed bluestone walls in the city of Melbourne. Announced at the time of the Green Cities Conference, the company highlighted the Federal Government’s intention to introduce a carbon price from 1 July 2012. “The carbon constrained economy is upon us. More importantly, we must commit ourselves to ensuring less carbon is emitted into the global atmosphere to preserve the environment for generations to come.” The pre-fabricated structure will consist of high technology cross laminated timber, first developed in Switzerland, but not before used in Australia, the company statement said. The project will utilise sustainably sourced and processed FSC certified wood products.
6 Southern Hemisphere Forest Industry Journal Vol. 17 No. 1
Marzo 2011
WOOD BUILDS HIGHER PROFILE IN CHILE In Chile, the Centre for Wood Technology Transfer (CTT in Spanish) has recently taken major steps in moving wood products to the centre of construction activities in a country where building products have traditionally been dominated by the brick and masonry alternatives. The CTT, established 11 years ago, has become a force for wood construction, bringing together industry players and educational institutions with the objective of developing and promoting the use of Radiata pine wood as a building material at a national level. In a recent edition of Lignum, CTT president Francisco Lozano C. said that with the work and support of 34 partners, national and foreign, it had been possible grade Radiata pine wood, standardise wood on offer, and transfer technologies to construction companies and professionals. The CTT also proposed changes to rules relation to wood construction, as well as improving education programmes for careers in architecture and construction engineering, carrying out a collaborative process in which 20 universities participated through the Council of Rectors. As part of this process, CTT published a complete wood construction manual that allows the transfer of technology to professionals, companies and environmental institutions. In addition, CTT also published an associated manual for educational establishments and planned to publish a Laminated Wood Manual, backed by a group of national experts. A competition for innovative designs in wood building is in its fifth year and in 2010 attached 44 projects from 17 universities. With the support of CTT, two architects from the Ministry of Housing have travelled to Canada to undertake a study in the North American country, which traditionally builds in wood. Francisco Lozano said that although significant progress had been made the CTT’s directorate had taken the step of looking forward to the medium-term and carried out a process of strategic planning for the next five years. The strategy-making process started after the economic crisis that affected the forestry sector from 2009 and took into account the impact of the earthquake in 2010. He participated in a round of consultations with partners and diverse players in the industry, including architects, construction companies, the board
March 2011
Chile is stepping out into new territory. This coastal research station at Las Cruces, Region Five was designed by Martin Hurtado Arquitectos Asociados for the Faculty of Biological Sciences, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile. Source: Centro de Transferencia Tecnologica de la Madera, Corma. and management of Corma as well as CTT directors. After this stage, it was determined that CTT had a mission “to lead the process of investigating and knowledge transfer in order to develop capacities allowing work to start on building sustainably using Radiata pine products. References: Michael Green telephone interview. Newcombe M.P. Multistorey Timber Buildings Seismic Design Guide. For a series of lectures in ENCI 499 “Timber Engineering” in the Department of Civil and Natural Resources Engineering at the University of Canterbury. Stephen John, Barbara Nebel, Nicolas Perez and Andy Buchanan. Environmental Impacts of Multi-Storey Buildings Using Different Construction Materials, NZ MAF, with University of Canterbury and Scion. 2008. Piers Morgan. Modern Commercial Wooden Buildings. NZ Journal of Forestry. Volume 55, Number 2, August 2010. Building and Construction Outlook quarterly report - May 2011 quarter. Department of Building and Housing. Crews K., John S., Gerber C., Buchanan A., Smith T., and Pampanin S. Innovative engineered timber building systems for non-residential applications, utilising timber concrete composite flooring capable of spanning up to 8 to 10m Project No: PNA012-0708. May 2010. Forest & Wood Products Australia Limited. Francisco Lozando C. Nuevos desafios para el CTT de la Madera. Lignum. Mayor 2011. Ano 21 No. 125.
Southern Hemisphere Forest Industry Journal Vol. 17 No. 1 7
Chile exports and prices 80.0 70.0 60.0 50.0 40.0 30.0 20.0 0.0
Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Jan Feb Mar
10.0
2007
2008
2009
2010
2011
Pine lumber , woodchip, plywood price indices (100 at 2003) 250.0 200.0 150.0 100.0 50.0 0.0 2010
Plyw ood
Q1
Woodchips
Q4
2009
Q3
Q2
Q1
Q4
Lumber
Q3
2008
Q2
Q1
Q4
2007
Q3
Q2
Q1
Q4
Q3
2011
Total
Chile exports of pulp products ($M f.o.b.) 350 300 250 200 150 100
0
Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Jan Feb Mar
50
2008
2009
2010
2011
Bleached Pulp, Fish Meal, Copper and Oil Prices 500.0
2,000.0
450.0
1,800.0
400.0
1,600.0
350.0
1,400.0
300.0
1,200.0
250.0
1,000.0
200.0
800.0
150.0
600.0
100.0
400.0
50.0
200.0
0.0
(Pulp and Fish Meal)
COMMODITY PRICES The bleached pulp price was US$727.9/m.t. in March 2011, up 13.3% on March 2010. Oil prices remained relatively static throughout 2010 but rose at the start of 2011 to reach US$107.1/b in March, 23.8% more than March 2010. The key copper price was up 21.7% in March 2011 compared to March 2010, at US$432.3/lb. Fish meal, at US$1,717.6/m.t., was up 2.5% on the previous March.
90.0
Q2
PULP EXPORTS Pulp exports were stronger in most areas, with the total value reach US$2,531 million for the 12 months ended March 2011, up 18.9% on the same period 2010. Most of this increase was due to the value of bleached pulp exports, which rose 18.7% to US$2,301 million over the 12-month period, lifting 55.0% in March 2011 compared to March 2010.
100.0
Q1
WOOD PRICE INDEX The price index for exported lumber products in the first quarter of 2011, at 88.8, was similar to Q3 and Q4 of 2010, which compared with the 120-plus levels of quarters from 2005. The Q1 2011 woodchip price index was firmer at 202.4 than the 192.7 of Q4 2010, reflecting a trend. The plywood price index, was significantly lower as well, at 65.2 in Q1 2011 compared to 125.7 in Q1 2010, again reflecting a lower trend.
Chile Exports of Pine Lumber Products ($M)
(Copper and Oil)
PINE LUMBER EXPORTS Pine lumber exports from Chile totalled US$606.4 million in the 12-month period ended March 2011, up 28.19% on the year ended March 2010. The value of exports rose in May and remained steady. March 2011 exports at US$55.5 million were 44.0% higher than the same month 2010, although February and March were similar.
0.0 2008
Source: Chile data. CopperGovernment (US$/lb.) Oil (US$/bb.)
8 Southern Hemisphere Forest Industry Journal Vol. 17 No. 1
2009
2010
Bleached pulp (US$/T.M..)
2011
Fish meal (US$/T.M.B.)
Marzo 2011
New Zealand exports, value and housing trends New Zealand lumber exports (NZ$M f.o.b.) and trend line 350 300 250 200 150 100 50 0
Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Jan Feb Mar 2008
2009 Pine lumber
Wood products
New Zealand lumber exports by value trend (US$/cubic metre) 400 350 300 250 200 150 100 50 0
2008
2009
2010
2011
New Zealand building consents (number by month) 3,000
2,500
2,500
2,000
2,000
1,500
1,500 1,000
1,000
500 0
500
J F M A M J J A S O N D J F M A M J J A S O N D J F M A M J J A S O N D J F M A M J J A S O N D J F M
(Houses and Apartments)
HOUSING STARTS Residential building consents issued in the 12-months ended March 2011 was 5.0% lower than in the same period 2010 at 14,611 in total. March 2011 consents were down 27.6% to 1,087 but this was up 10.5% on February 2011. House building consents were down 4.1% in the 12-months ended March 2011 compared to the same period March 2010, at 13,583. Apartment building still struggles being 15.4% in the March 2011 year at 1,028 compared to the same period 2010.
2011
Nov Dec Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Jan Feb Mar
VALUE TRENDS After weakening off in late 2010, the dollar per cubic metre value of pine lumber product exported lifted in the first three months of 2011. A value of US$409/m3 was reached in January 2011 compared to US$376/m3 in the previous month. The February 2011 was down slightly to US$388/m3 but lifted again in March to US$393/ m 3.
2010
(All dwellings)
LUMBER EXPORTS The value of pine lumber exports from New Zealand was NZ$786 million in the 12 months ended March 2011, or 21.8% more than the previous year. As illustrated in the graph, exports dropped in January but more than recovered in the next two months to reach NZ$65.6 million in March, although this value was 3.9% lower than in March 2010.
2007
2008
Houses
2009
Apartments
2010
0
2011
All dwellings
Sources for all tables: Statistics New Zealand
March 2011
Southern Hemisphere Forest Industry Journal Vol. 17 No. 1 9
Australia housing, exports and imports Australia building consents - total private sector houses (by month)
HOUSING STARTS Total dwelling approvals in the 12 months ended March 2011 6.1% higher than in the March 2010 12-month period, at 158,000. However, private sector house approvals were down 8.9% to 100,000. The start of the year is normally a lower period but numbers in March for both total and private sector approvals were down in March 2011 on the previous March, falling 9.6% and 17.9% respectively at 13,652 and 8,524 respectively.
PAPER TRADE Paper product imports at A$2,820 million rose 13.1% in the 12 months ended March 2011 compared to the March 2010 12-month period. Imports of A$221 million in March were 10.4% higher than in February but were 5.2% lower than in March 2010. Exports of A$821 million were up 17.3%. Although imports trailed downwards in Q4 2010 and January, they lifted in February and March where they ended at A$73 million and A$74 million respectively.
14000 12000 10000 8000 6000 4000
0
Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Jan Feb Mar
2000
2009
2010
Total dwellings
2011
Private sector houses
Australia wood product exports & imports (A$M f.o.b.) 120 100 80 60 40
0
Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Jan Feb Mar
20
2008
2009 Exports
2010
2011
Imports
Australia paper product trade (A$M f.o.b) 350 300 250 200 150 100 50 0
Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Jan Feb Mar
WOOD PRODUCT IMPORTS & EXPORTS Wood product imports and exports were up in the March 2011 year. Exports rose 18.8% compared to the 2010 year, at A$304 million, and imports lifted 14.5% to A$1,083 million. However, the difference in exports and imports at the start of 2011 is interesting. The March 2011 imports of A$99 million were 7.0% higher than in March 2010 and were 13.1% higher than in February. At the same time, imports at A$19 million in March 2011 were 29.6% lower than March 2010 and 32.1% down on February 2011.
16000
2008
2009 Exports
2010
2011
Imports
Source for data: Australian Bureau of Statistics
10 Southern Hemisphere Forest Industry Journal Vol. 17 No. 1
Marzo 2011
South African housing, exports and imports South African residential building consents by value (Rand ‘000)1
HOUSING STARTS The value of residential building approvals in South Africa in the 12 months ended March 2011 was 11.2% up when compared to the 2010 March year, at R63.6 million rands. The March 2011 figure of 2.9 million rands was 32.1% higher than in March 2010 and 33.0% higher than in February. Total building approvals in the 12 months ended March 2011 of 63.6 million rands were at a similar level to the previous year. Total building approvals of 5.9 million rands in March were 8.8% higher than in March 2010 and 17.6% up on February.
PAPER PRODUCT TRADE The paper product trade at the start of 2011 received a lift, with an increase in exports and imports. Exports for the 12 months ended March 2011 at R4,746 million were 1.7% down on the same period ended March 2010. Exports in March at R389 million were 2.6% up on March 2010 and 6.9% higher than in February. Imports of R7,0 million in the 12 months period ended March 2011 were 2.7 higher than the March 2010 year. Imports in March 2011 of R632 million were 8.9% higher than in March 2010 and 8.4% higher than in February.
March 2011
8000 7000 6000 5000 4000 3000 2000 0
Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Jan Feb Mar
1000
2008
2009
Res idential
2010
2011
Total
16000
160000
14000
140000
12000
120000
10000
100000
8000
80000
6000
60000
4000
40000
2000
20000 0
Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Jan Feb Mar
0
(Total sales)
(Exports & Imports)
South African pine lumber exports and total sales (m3)2
2009
Exports
2010
Imports
2011
Total sales
South Africa’s paper trade (Rand Million) 900 800 700 600 500 400 300 200 100 0
Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Jan Feb Mar
WOOD PRODUCT SALES Total pine lumber sales in the 12 months ended March 2011 at 1.4 million m3 were 5.9% higher than in the March 2010 year. Exports of pine lumber product in the 12 months ended March 2011 totalled 3.4 million m3, down 32.9% on the March 2010 year. Imports of lumber totalled 66,246 m3 in 2011, up 5.9% on the same period 2010.
9000
2008
2009
Exports
2010
2011
Imports
Sources: 1Statistics South Africa; 2South African Lumber Index, Crickmay & Associates
(Pty) Ltd and Department of Trade and Industry.
Southern Hemisphere Forest Industry Journal Vol. 17 No. 1 11
NZ Log Price Summary
March 2011 Quarter and 12-Quarter Average As at: June 2011 June 2010 (Quarter)
September 2010 (Quarter)
December 2010 (Quarter)
March 2011 (Quarter)
12-quarter average
Pruned
154-187
148-219
176-203
179-197
168
Unpruned A-grade
129-156
127-144
118-121
132-144
115
Unpruned K-grade1
115-140
109-118
106-130
130-148
106
Pulp
105-127
103-105
100-120
129-137
90
P1
125-161
125-156
130-154
128-147
132
P2
104-131
108-127
109-132
110-127
107
S1
95-102
97-103
97-100
88-98
92
S2
94-103
89-101
92-102
92-103
86
L1 and L2
73-109
71-99
73-102
72-103
77
S3 and L3
75-84
81-94
80-86
82-92
73
Pulp
44-57
44-59
46-58
47-57
50
Generic Log Type & Pricing Point EXPORT (NZ$ per JAS m3 f.o.b.)
DOMESTIC (NZ$ per tonne delivered at mill
Source: NZ Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry, Senior Analyst, MAF Policy Information & Regions 2 = Korea grade
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Marzo 2011