Timber Price Indices

The latest National Statistics on Timber Price Indices produced by the Forestry Commission were released on 14 May 2020 according to the arrangements approved by the UK Statistics Authority.

Timber Price Indices are based on sales by Forestry England, Forestry and Land Scotland and Natural Resources Wales and consist of the Coniferous Standing Sales Price Index and the Softwood Sawlog Price Index. They present data to March 2020 for Great Britain.

The key points from the latest release are:

Coniferous Standing Sales Price Index:

• The index was 14.8% lower in real terms (13.2% lower in nominal terms) in the year to March 2020, compared with the previous year. This follows a generally increasing trend in the index in recent years.
• The average price for coniferous standing sales was £28.22 per cubic metre overbark standing in nominal terms in the year to March 2020, a decrease from £31.66 in the year to March 2019.

Softwood Sawlog Price Index:

• The Softwood Sawlog Price Index was 18.6% lower in real terms (17.1% lower in nominal terms) in the 6 months to March 2020, compared with the corresponding period of the previous year. As for the Coniferous Standing Sales Price Index, this follows a recent increase in the index.
• The average price for softwood sawlog sales was £54.06 per cubic metre overbark in nominal terms in the 6-month period to March 2020, a decrease from £54.54 in the 6 months to September 2019 and £65.23 in the 6 months to March 2019.

Coverage: Great Britain

Geographical breakdown: None

First Release:

Timber Price Indices: Data to March 2020

Data:
Tables in Excel and ODS (OpenDocument Spreadsheet) format.

Longer time series data for the Coniferous Standing Sales Price Index, for years ending March 1985 to March 2020, are available in Excel and ODS formats. The data also give underlying figures for volumes, total prices and average prices by average tree size in Great Britain.

Quality:

Quality Report: Timber Price Indices

Methodology Paper (August 2008):

Methodology for the Coniferous Standing Sales Price Index

Statistician:  Sheila Ward

Contact:  Robert Stagg

Tel: 0300 067 5238

E-mail: statistics@forestresearch.gov.uk

Next update:

19 November 2020 (data to September 2020)

13 May 2021 (data to March 2021)

Pre-release access:

Information on pre-release access to these publications can be found in the pre-release access pages.