Wood is a precious commodity \u2013 up there with water and whales.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But the flow of Australian wood, in the shape of prime grade sawlogs, has hit a brick wall, literally.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
A nation-wide housing boom is threatened by the dual impact of labour and product shortages \u2013 and this includes engineered and non-engineered timber supplies \u2013 rising costs, competitive alternative building materials, fixed-price contracts and supply-chain issues \u2026 think the collapse of prominent Victorian home builder Porter Davis.<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n As such, building projects are being delayed with typical home builds now taking an additional 10-12 weeks to complete.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The significant timber shortage is expected to continue through 2023-24 with Australia to remain short on timber until 2035 and beyond.<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n Increasing timber production is one answer, but not a quick fix. As we all know, you can\u2019t just grow a new timber plantation overnight.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Typically, these can take up to 25-30 years before harvest.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The federal government\u2019s $86 million investment in timber plantations to help offset the demand will not be realised until at least 2047<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n And where are those billion trees? <\/p>\n\n\n\n In September 2018<\/a>, the federal government unveiled a plan to expand Australia’s timber plantations by one billion trees over a decade. Today, less than 1% of that goal has been achieved<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Through all of this, it is galling to learn that some timber growers in South Australia are continuing to export those prime grade sawlogs to who knows where \u2026India, China?<\/p>\n\n\n\n