{"id":30252,"date":"2025-11-18T09:11:38","date_gmt":"2025-11-17T23:11:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/woodcentral.com.au\/?p=30252"},"modified":"2025-11-18T09:11:41","modified_gmt":"2025-11-17T23:11:41","slug":"nz-pushes-high%e2%80%91value-timber-exports-as-india-fta-talks-gather-pace","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/woodcentral.com.au\/nz-pushes-high%e2%80%91value-timber-exports-as-india-fta-talks-gather-pace\/","title":{"rendered":"NZ Pushes High\u2011Value Timber Exports as India FTA Talks Gather Pace"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>New Zealand\u2019s trade in higher\u2011value timber products has emerged as a clear winner from advancing talks with India, one of the world\u2019s top ten timber importers. Forestry, Trade and Investment Minister Todd McClay led a delegation of 13 New Zealand timber companies across India last week, deepening ties and showcasing the country\u2019s premium wood products.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cThis mission delivered the first tangible results under the Letter of Intent on Forestry Cooperation signed earlier this year,\u201d Minister McClay said, noting that the visit gave exporters valuable insight into India\u2019s forestry policies and its fast\u2011growing domestic market. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter wp-block-embed-twitter\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">My sixth visit to India in the last year &amp; a half and my third to Mumbai: Todd McClay, New Zealand&#39;s Minister of Trade and Investment <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/xJunlNhbbl\">pic.twitter.com\/xJunlNhbbl<\/a><\/p>&mdash; Piyush Goyal (@PiyushGoyal) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/PiyushGoyal\/status\/1990321833686823005?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">November 17, 2025<\/a><\/blockquote><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script>\n<\/div><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\"><em>Todd McClay, also New Zealand&#8217;s Minister of Trade and Investment, is currently in India pushing to firm up a historic free trade agreement between the countries.<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>As it stands, wood and woodeen products are already New Zealand\u2019s largest goods export to India, worth NZ$134 million in the year to June 2025, with a delegation of Indian forestry businesses slated to tour New Zealand in February 2026. And whilst logs and pulp remain the backbone of current trade, McClay stressed that the real opportunity lies in processed timber products that match India\u2019s rapid urbanisation and its emphasis on sustainable construction.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2560\" height=\"2560\" src=\"https:\/\/woodcentral.b-cdn.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/2DH1100-scaled.jpg.webp\" alt=\"For years India has been flagged as the next boom market for global timber, however, amid a slowing housing market, Wood Central can reveal that lumber imports are down more than 37% between quarter 1 2024 and 2023. (Photo Credit: M-SUR \/ Alamy Stock Photo)\" class=\"wp-image-18969\" srcset=\"https:\/\/woodcentral.com.au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/2DH1100-scaled.jpg 2560w, https:\/\/woodcentral.com.au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/2DH1100-300x300.jpg 300w, https:\/\/woodcentral.com.au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/2DH1100-1024x1024.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/woodcentral.com.au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/2DH1100-150x150.jpg 150w, https:\/\/woodcentral.com.au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/2DH1100-768x768.jpg 768w, https:\/\/woodcentral.com.au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/2DH1100-1536x1536.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/woodcentral.com.au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/2DH1100-2048x2048.jpg 2048w, https:\/\/woodcentral.com.au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/2DH1100-696x696.jpg 696w, https:\/\/woodcentral.com.au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/2DH1100-1068x1068.jpg 1068w, https:\/\/woodcentral.com.au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/2DH1100-1920x1920.jpg 1920w, https:\/\/woodcentral.com.au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/2DH1100-420x420.jpg 420w, https:\/\/woodcentral.com.au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/2DH1100-1320x1320.jpg 1320w, https:\/\/woodcentral.com.au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/2DH1100-600x600.jpg 600w, https:\/\/woodcentral.com.au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/2DH1100-100x100.jpg 100w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2560px) 100vw, 2560px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">For years, India has been flagged as the next boom market for global timber, with New Zealand looking to boost its volume of radiata pine used in pulp, logs and increasingly higher value engineered wood products in the coming years.  (Photo Credit: M-SUR \/ Alamy Stock Photo)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>The initiative follows a visit to New Zealand by India\u2019s Minister of Commerce and Industry, Piyush Goyal, underscoring both governments\u2019 commitment to a deeper strategic relationship. Earlier this month, Minister Goyal urged both countries to explore new avenues of cooperation across sport, education, technology, tourism, maritime affairs, and forestry during remarks at the India\u2011New Zealand Business Forum in Auckland.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h6 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Negotiations toward a long\u2011sought free trade agreement are also advancing. <\/h6>\n\n\n\n<p>Delegates from New Delhi and Wellington began talks on November 3, focusing on trade in food, services, and rules of origin. Officials described the discussions as constructive, with Goyal highlighting India\u2019s vast and fast\u2011growing marketplace as an opportunity for New Zealand traders, while India looks to leverage New Zealand\u2019s technological expertise and niche capabilities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1000\" height=\"667\" src=\"https:\/\/woodcentral.b-cdn.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/shutterstock_1643912476.jpg\" alt=\"One of the major beneficiaries of a new India-NZ free trade agreement, trade in New Zealand radiata pine peaked at NZ$326 million in 2019 before dropping to NZ$9.5 million in 2023 at the height of the methyl bromide dispute. Here, logs are unloaded at the Kandla Port Terminal, Kutch in Gujarat, India. (Photo Credit: 1643912476 via Shutterstock Images)\" class=\"wp-image-25678\" srcset=\"https:\/\/woodcentral.com.au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/shutterstock_1643912476.jpg 1000w, https:\/\/woodcentral.com.au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/shutterstock_1643912476-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/woodcentral.com.au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/shutterstock_1643912476-768x512.jpg 768w, https:\/\/woodcentral.com.au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/shutterstock_1643912476-630x420.jpg 630w, https:\/\/woodcentral.com.au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/shutterstock_1643912476-696x464.jpg 696w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1000px) 100vw, 1000px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">One of the major beneficiaries of a new India-NZ free trade agreement, trade in New Zealand radiata pine peaked at NZ$326 million in 2019 before dropping to NZ$9.5 million in 2023 at the height of the methyl bromide dispute. Here, logs are unloaded at the Kandla Port Terminal, Kutch in Gujarat, India. (Photo Credit: 1643912476 via Shutterstock Images)\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>India is already one of New Zealand\u2019s most important log export markets, and the forestry sector has seen a surge in pulp and higher\u2011value wood products. Analysts say tariff relief, clearer sanitary and phytosanitary rules, and deeper regulatory cooperation could drive trade far beyond the NZ$326 million peak reached before the pandemic. The current trade between the two countries is valued at NZ$3.14 billion, with forest products alone accounting for NZ$134 million. This includes a notable increase in wood products to NZ$76.5 million, up from NZ$9.5 million in 2023.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>New Zealand\u2019s trade in higher\u2011value timber products has emerged as a clear winner from advancing talks with India, one of the world\u2019s top ten timber importers. Forestry, Trade and Investment Minister Todd McClay led a delegation of 13 New Zealand timber companies across India last week, deepening ties and showcasing the country\u2019s premium wood products. [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":30253,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_wpscppro_dont_share_socialmedia":false,"_wpscppro_custom_social_share_image":0,"_facebook_share_type":"default","_twitter_share_type":"default","_linkedin_share_type":"default","_pinterest_share_type":"default","_linkedin_share_type_page":"","_instagram_share_type":"default","_medium_share_type":"default","_threads_share_type":"default","_google_business_share_type":"default","_selected_social_profile":[],"_wpsp_enable_custom_social_template":false,"_wpsp_social_scheduling":{"enabled":false,"datetime":null,"platforms":[],"status":"template_only","dateOption":"today","timeOption":"now","customDays":"","customHours":"","customDate":"","customTime":"","schedulingType":"absolute"},"_wpsp_active_default_template":true},"categories":[52,41,32,46,42,39,114,43,40],"tags":[],"ppma_author":[70],"class_list":{"0":"post-30252","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-asia","8":"category-exterior-wood-products","9":"category-global-news","10":"category-industry","11":"category-interior-wood-products","12":"category-mass-timber","13":"category-new-zealand","14":"category-structural-wood-products","15":"category-wood-products"},"authors":[{"term_id":70,"user_id":2,"is_guest":0,"slug":"jason","display_name":"Jason Ross","avatar_url":{"url":"https:\/\/woodcentral.com.au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/J-Ross-headshot.jpeg","url2x":"https:\/\/woodcentral.com.au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/J-Ross-headshot.jpeg"},"0":null,"1":"","2":"","3":"","4":"","5":"","6":"","7":"","8":""}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/woodcentral.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30252","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/woodcentral.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/woodcentral.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/woodcentral.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/woodcentral.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=30252"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/woodcentral.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30252\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":30255,"href":"https:\/\/woodcentral.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30252\/revisions\/30255"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/woodcentral.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/30253"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/woodcentral.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=30252"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/woodcentral.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=30252"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/woodcentral.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=30252"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/woodcentral.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/ppma_author?post=30252"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}