It’s been five years since I checked the prices of conflict-driven, welfare-dependent Tasmanian oak timber at Bunnings Hardware, Australia’s largest timber retailer. Given my previous post about timber prices after the shutdown of welfare forestry in West Australia and Victoria, I thought I should do an update.
Whoa!!! Look at that chart!!
It seems that as welfare public forestry is shut down in Australia, the price of hardwood timber has increased dramatically. Small sizes are now over $22,000 per cubic metre and the cheapest at $9,500 per cubic metre. These are massive price increases from 5 years ago!
These massive hardwood timber price increases should be sending ripples through the Australian farming community. So far I’ve seen no evidence that is happening! Why??
The future of the forest industry in Australia is with farm forestry. Surely these hardwood prices now make growing quality hardwood in private plantations a viable and profitable agricultural activity.
Why isn’t the farming community responding?
Tasmanian Blackwood Growers Cooperative 