The State of Timber in Australia: Introduction

Timber suppliers across Australia paid a lot of attention to a recent government document. In March of this year, 2015, the Forest Industry Advisory Council published a document called “Meeting Future Market Demand: Australia’s Forest Products and Forest Industry.” The document is in response to the Council’s mandate to “provide timely information and advice to the Minister of Agriculture.”

Importance of Timber

The state of the Australian timber industry is important to all of us for a number of reasons. Availability and pricing affect the construction industry and homeowners doing renovations or completing projects such as timber decking for their properties. The state of the timber industry affects employment. The environment is another consideration.

This month and next month, we will be doing a series on the different points covered in this landmark document. We think they are important to help give everyone a better idea of what goes on in the timber industry and how it affects us all.

Timber is used, not only in construction, but for furniture, cardboard and paper. Packaging, printing, writing and sanitary needs are taken care of by timber or timber by-products. In 2013-14, the timber industry employed 70,500 people across Australia. 28 towns were classified as dependent upon the timber industry for their wellbeing. In those towns, the timber sector supports the service industry, too.

Timber and the Environment

Timber is a renewable and sustainable resource that carries a negative carbon footprint. Timber takes CO2, a greenhouse gas, out of the environment, stores the carbon and releases the oxygen. Timber has to be responsibly forested to maximise its beneficial effect on the environment.

In 2012-13, the average consumption of timber products for each Australian was 0.81 cubic metres of logs. 22.8 cubic metres of logs were harvested in Australia in 2012-13, with 18.9 million harvested from plantations and 3.9 million harvested from native forests.

In subsequent posts, we will cover the timber industry in more detail.

For all of your timber needs, call the foremost timber suppliers today on 1300 477 024.