New Zealand’s logging companies could be pushed to the brink, with the Iran conflict blamed for sharply rising diesel costs, as log-export-reliant regions face the prospect of shutdowns unless prices drop. That is according to Forest Management group director Glenn Moir, who told RNZ on Wednesday that the industry had entered a perfect storm of rising fuel and freight costs — at what had, until three weeks ago, been shaping as a breakout year for forestry.
As it stands, Wood Central understands that diesel is trading at NZD $2.34 per litre nationally — up 90 cents per litre since the conflict began and 80 per cent higher than a month ago, according to the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment. Whilst at some Auckland stations, diesel has now overtaken 91 octane petrol at the pump. For an industry that consumes 12 litres of diesel to produce a single tonne of logs, that trajectory is not abstract. It has already pushed up costs by 25 per cent across logging contractor operations.
Moir said the higher-cost forests — those further from port and with steeper terrain — were bearing the sharpest exposure. “I can see that if it does continue, we’re going to face some real pressure in the higher-cost forests — just to make it economic,” he said.
“The industry can’t sustain that.”
Forest Management group director Glenn Moir on the 25 per cent cost surge now hitting logging contractors across New Zealand.
It comes as shipping rates into China have moved sharply alongside the fuel spike, from roughly US$33 per cubic metre for March shipments to around US$45 in April — a 36 per cent jump in four weeks. That compressed margin is landing hardest on regions that depend on export volumes, among them South Canterbury and the west coast of the North Island.
Talks are continuing with forest owners and others along the supply chain to find short-term relief. Moir said 2026 had looked like a strong year before the conflict escalated, with export prices rising and domestic demand growing. That reversed fast. “All that turned on its head three weeks ago, and we’re struggling a little bit now,” he said.
It comes as Wood Central reported on the mounting pressure facing Australian timber hauliers, with operators across New South Wales burning through $200,000 in extra monthly fuel costs as diesel soared to over 105 cents per litre nationally, and the Australian Trucking Association warning of financial collapse within weeks.
Please note: This story is part of a special Wood Central series covering the fuel crisis in regional and rural communities and its impact in Australia and New Zealand. For more information, click here for Wood Central’s exclusive story on Anthony Dorney, who is being forced to sell his herd of cattle to square his fuel bill.
