They had been about $118 a tonne through December into January, compared to typical prices in the $85/t to $95/t range since the mid-1990s, AgriHQ analyst Reece Brick said.
The news was good as structural timber was at the higher value end of the market, which had been strong for the last 18 months and showed no signs of changing any time soon.
Structural timber made up about 30% of the domestic market, with pruned logs at about 23%, round wood 5%, and pulp at 42%.
Round wood prices were also very firm, up about $3/t to $85/t, because of strong demand from horticulture and viticulture businesses, as well as the housing construction sector.
The industry had been fortunate in that horticultural demand rose to new levels almost about the downturn in demand from dairy farmers as prices fell in that sector, Brick said.
There was pretty much a neat offset.
Prices were also strong for log exports to China in the weeks leading up to its New Year holiday.
The market was confident of continued good sales with relatively low inventory levels at Chinese ports and low volatility over the last several months.
However, no-one had a detailed record of the market and the situation did change sometimes once the holiday period ended, he said.
About half of NZ’s forest output was exported to China.
A-grade export logs had been selling at up to$124/t, in line with the 2014 record levels. A-grade logs made up 46% of the exports.
