New Zealand sawmills are fielding a noticeable rise in enquiries from Indian buyers for sawn timber, with the country’s peak sawmilling body pointing to the early demand as the first commercial dividend from the recently signed Free Trade Agreement with India. That is according to the New Zealand Timber Industry Federation (NZTIF), the sole industry body representing the country’s sawmilling and wood processing sector since 1912, which reported the rise in member enquiries in a statement issued through Scoop on Friday.
The federation said the early commercial pickup signalled growing confidence in the bilateral channel and improved access conditions following the agreement, though it cautioned that the rise in enquiries was a leading indicator rather than confirmed trade volume. “We are already seeing tangible benefits from the New Zealand–India FTA,” NZTIF said.
Wood Central understands the enquiries have concentrated on sawn radiata pine, the species that dominates New Zealand’s commercial plantation estate and the country’s existing wood trade with India, with Indian buyers responding to the immediate removal of duties of between 5.5 and 11 per cent on most wood lines from the day the agreement took effect. The remaining 5 per cent of tariffed lines will be phased out over a seven-year period, with HS Codes 44, 47 and 48 — covering wood and articles of wood, pulp of wood, and paperboard, respectively — capturing the bulk of New Zealand’s processed wood exports to the subcontinent.
India represents the most consequential new market opening for New Zealand’s wood processing sector in a generation, driven by accelerating construction demand, urbanisation and an increasing preference for sustainably sourced softwood across the country’s growing middle class. The federation noted the agreement’s potential to convert into long-term trade relationships, with continued industry engagement and processing capability identified as the two factors determining whether early enquiries translate into sustained export volume.
Wood Central understands New Zealand’s previous attempt to conclude a free trade agreement with India collapsed in 2014–15, with a bilateral methyl bromide fumigation dispute subsequently driving radiata pine trade from a 2019 peak of NZD$326 million to just NZD$9.5 million by 2023. Trade has since recovered to NZD$76.5 million off the back of the diplomatic reset that produced the new agreement, with bilateral merchandise trade forecast to more than triple from NZD$2.23 billion to NZD$8.57 billion within five years of the FTA entering into force.
It comes as Trade and Investment Minister Todd McClay and Indian Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal signed the 1,364-page Comprehensive Free Trade Agreement at Bharat Mandapam in New Delhi on 27 April, with Wood Central reporting on the day that more than 95 per cent of New Zealand’s wood and forestry exports to India became tariff-free immediately. The signing followed an open letter from the Wood Processors and Manufacturers Association of New Zealand calling on all political parties to back ratification, with the industry warning that political hesitation risked stalling the most consequential timber trade opening in a generation.
The federation said it would continue working with members and the government to maximise the agreement’s commercial benefits, with the early enquiry surge giving New Zealand a window to displace South American radiata pine across the Kandla market, where demand for New Zealand logs could increase by an estimated 80,000 JAS cubic metres per month under the new tariff settings.
