Wood Product Exports Contribute To Record Trade Surplus

An increase of 42 percent in exports of logs, wood, and wood articles for April 2025 when compared to April 2024 as reported by Stats NZ is welcomed by the Wood Processors and Manufacturers Association of NZ (WPMA).

“It is pleasing to see wood products and log exports contributing $481 million towards the $7.8 billion record surplus, an increase of $141 million from a year ago, said WPMA Chief Executive, Mark Ross, “this increase is encouraging for an industry that is doing is tough, but we need this trend to continue as a means of reigniting and growing our domestic wood processing sector”.

This rise comes on the back of a national trade surplus driven by primary product exports of $1.4 billion, with New Zealand importing $6.4 billion and exporting $7.8 billion of goods in April 2025. Besides wood products the main export contributors were milk products, red meat and fruit. Stats NZ highlighting that the top growth export markets in the last 12 months included ASEAN countries, such as Vietnam, Singapore and Malaysia, along with Europe and China.

When looking at the $141 million increase in wood product exports in more depth the key articles contributing to this increase included wood in the rough, railway sleepers, sawn wood, veneer sheets, densified wood, along with particle board, oriented strand board and fibreboard. “Most of these exports are value-added wood products”, said Ross, “to purposefully grow our industry we need to work together and invest in domestic processing of logs, which then allows for the creation of higher-value products like sawn timber, engineered wood, and other finished goods”.

Afterall a thriving wood processing and forestry industry will create more jobs and economic opportunities in the regions, support our local communities and build economic resilience for New Zealand. More details on the Stats NZ report can be found here https://www.stats.govt.nz/information-releases/overseas-merchandise-trade-april-2025/

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