Skip to main content Skip to main navigation Skip to search
ABARES

Top navigation abares

  • Department
  • Ministers
  • Media Centre
Main menu

Main navigation ABARES

  • ABARES Home
    ABARES Home
  • About
    About
  • Research topics
    Research topics
  • Products
    Products
  • Data
    Data
  • News
    News
  • Conferences and events
    Conferences and events
  • Careers
    Careers
Department of Agriculture

Breadcrumb

  1. DAFF Home
  2. ABARES
  3. Research topics
  4. Forests
  5. Forest economics
  6. Plantation and log supply

Secondary ABARES

  • Forest economics
    • Australian forest and wood products statistics
    • Forest economic research
      • Australian wood volumes analysis
      • A framework for developing medium term projections of traded wood products
      • Economic potential for new plantation establishment in Australia
      • Future opportunities for using forest and sawmill residues in Australia
      • Illegal logging regulation: analysis of regulated importers by business size
      • Productivity and efficiency of the Australian sawmilling industry
      • Responsiveness of demand for structural pine to changes in timber and steel prices
      • Short-term forecasts of selected wood product sales volume: Method and assumptions
      • Upscaling the Australian softwood sawmill industry
    • Australian plantation statistics update
    • Plantation and log supply
    • National wood processing survey

Australian plantation area and log availability — National plantation inventory regions and Regional forestry hubs

National Plantation Inventory region and Regional Forestry Hub plantation area and log availability visualisation

This data visualisation presents plantation area and log availability for each of the 15 National plantation inventory (NPI) regions and 11 Regional forestry hubs.

The data in this visualisation is collected through ABARES surveys of forest growers around Australia (Legg, Frakes and Gavran 2021), and previous reports. ABARES subsequently spatially mapped Australia’s plantation estate and the estimated harvestable log volume for each NPI region and Regional Forestry Hub region.

Importantly, although the NPI regions and Regional Forestry Hubs are located in similar regions their extents vary. As a result, plantation areas and log availability are not comparable across NPI and Hub regions.

Find more information on the National Plantation Inventory

Find more information on the Regional Forestry Hubs

Find more information on the Regional Forestry Hubs boundaries

Australia’s plantation estate was 1,774,660 hectares in 2019-20, a 10.1% decline from 2014-15. Most of this decline can be attributed to the hardwood plantation estate declining by 22% to 723,586 hectares. The softwood plantation area remained stable with a 0.7 percent decline to 1,028,054 hectares in 2019-20. There has been minimal new plantations established in Australia over the past 10 years with only 1500 hectares established in 2019-20. The 2019-20 bushfires impacted the plantation estate resulting in the total softwood plantation log availability decreasing in the medium term before recovering from 2035 onwards. Australia’s hardwood plantation log availability is forecast to remain steady over the next forty years at around 10 million cubic metres per year.

Australian plantation statistics and log availability 2021

The Australian plantation statistics and log availability report series supports strategic forest industry planning and decision-making by presenting information on total plantation area, new planting and ownership along with forecasts of future softwood and hardwood sawlog and pulplog availability.

In this 2021 report, plantation areas and forecast log availability are presented nationally and by National Plantation Inventory (NPI) regions for softwood and hardwood plantation types. This is based on data collected from private growers and grower representatives and public state and territory agencies. This data is published every 5 years and supports strategic forest industry planning and decision–making.

This report presents 2019‒20 plantation area data and is compared with data from the 1999‒00, 2004‒05, 2009–10 and 2014–15. ABARES also forecasts hardwood and softwood plantation log availability at the national and NPI region level to 2064.

Key findings

  • Australia’s commercial plantation area in 2019-20 was 1,774,660 hectares. This area is 198,700 hectares (10%) less than the area recorded in 2014-15. The total softwood plantation was relatively stable, declining by only 7 300 hectares (0.7%). The total hardwood plantation area decreased by 204 900 hectares (22%) because of low commerciality plantations not being replanted after harvest and some lease agreements with landholders not being renewed.
  • A total of 9,700 hectares were established between 2014-15 and 2019-20, comprising 7,800 hectares of softwood plantations and 2,000 hectares of hardwood plantations.
  • Total annual log availability from Australia’s commercial plantation estate is forecast to decline from an annual average of 27.7 million cubic meters in the 2015–2019 period to approximately 24.9 million cubic meters a year in the 2020–2024 period, including a decrease in both hardwood and softwood availability. Hardwood availability is expected to increase in the 2025-2029 period remaining stable until 2064, while total annual softwood availability is forecast to not reach 2015-2019 levels until 2035.
  • Annual average total plantation log availability between 2020 and 2059 is expected to remain stable compared with ABARES’ 2015 forecasts. Hardwood sawlogs is the only log type which has a significant proportional change in log availability over the period (15% increase), although this is a relatively small amount of Australia’s total annual harvest volume (less than 1%).
  • The 2019-20 summer bushfires heavily impacted the NPI regions of Murray Valley, East Gippsland-Bombala, Mount Lofty and Kangaroo Island and the North Coast, which account for 24% of Australia’s softwood sawlog production. ABARES 2020 plantation data shows that 85,000 hectares were burnt, however further analysis is required to determine how much log availability is impacted since there are multiple factors that can affect changes in log availability forecasts.

Document File size
Australian plantation statistics and log availability 2021 PDF 3.78 MB
Australian plantation statistics and log availability 2021 DOCX 15.2 MB
Australian plantation statistics and log availability - Data tables 145 KB
Australian Plantation statistics and log availability 2021 - Infographic PDF 283 KB
Dashboard Data tables – Plantation area and Log availability NPI Regions and Regional Forestry Hubs XLSX 150 KB
Australian plantation area and log availability data visualisation  

If you have difficulty accessing these files, visit web accessibility for assistance.

Key issues from the Australian plantation statistics 2020 update

Published: 23 June 2020

  • Australia’s total commercial plantation area in 2018–19 was 1,933,400 hectares. This area is 9,300 hectares (0.5%) less than the area recorded in 2017‒18, and 86,800 hectares (4.3%) less than the area recorded in 2008–09.
  • ABARES estimates that a total area of 130,200 hectares (6.7%) of Australia’s commercial plantations was in the fire extent of the 2019–20 bushfires in southern and eastern Australia. Most of the plantation area in the fire extent was in New South Wales (71%) and South Australia (13%). The effects of the bushfires on Australia’s commercial plantation estate are not reflected in the 2018–19 data in this report but will be accounted for in the 2019–20 comprehensive spatial stocktake report.
  • A total of 2,800 hectares of new plantations were established in 2018–19, comprising 2,750 hectares of softwood plantations and 50 hectares of hardwood plantations. Around 92% of new plantations established in 2018–19 were publicly owned and 8% were privately owned.
  • A total of 12,100 hectares of Australia’s plantation estate was converted to another land use in 2018–19, comprising 12,000 hectares of hardwood plantations (99%) and 100 hectares of softwood plantations (1%). Most converted plantations were in South Australia (52%), followed by Western Australia (29%) and Victoria (19%).

Download the reports

Document File size
Australian plantation statistics 2020 update PDF 1.7 MB
Australian plantation statistics 2020 update DOCX 3.3 MB
Australian Plantation statistics 2020 - Infographic PDF 0.5 MB
Australian plantation statistics 2018 update PDF 3.5 MB
Australian plantation statistics 2016 PDF 23.6 MB

If you have difficulty accessing these files, visit web accessibility for assistance.

Document File size
Australia's plantation log supply 2015-2059 PDF 3.9 MB
Australia’s plantation log supply 2010-2054 PDF 5.2 MB
Australia’s plantation log supply 2005-2049 PDF 2.8 MB

If you have difficulty accessing these files, visit web accessibility for assistance.

Thanks for your feedback.
Thanks! Your feedback has been submitted.

We aren't able to respond to your individual comments or questions.
To contact us directly phone us or submit an online inquiry

CAPTCHA
This question is for testing whether or not you are a human visitor and to prevent automated spam submissions.

Please verify that you are not a robot.

Skip
Page last updated: 31 March 2022

We acknowledge the continuous connection of First Nations Traditional Owners and Custodians to the lands, seas and waters of Australia. We recognise their care for and cultivation of Country. We pay respect to Elders past and present, and recognise their knowledge and contribution to the productivity, innovation and sustainability of Australia’s agriculture, fisheries and forestry industries.

Artwork: Protecting our Country, Growing our Future
© Amy Allerton, contemporary Aboriginal Artist of the Gumbaynggirr, Bundjalung and Gamilaroi nations.

Footer

  • Contact us
  • Accessibility
  • Disclaimer
  • Privacy
  • FOI

© Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry

Facebook X LinkedIn Instagram