A demand for Northland's structural timber for the buoyant residential building market, particularly in Auckland, has pushed the price of the region's logs to $126 a tonne, more than the national average of $117.
The $126 a tonne to come into effect next month is also the export price and a leading Northland log exporter said the demand for sawn timber for structural framing was "very high".
Mark Hansen, managing director of Rosvall Sawmill in Whangarei, made the comments following AgriHQ's monthly survey that said the buoyant residential building activity has pushed up the average price for top structural logs this year rise to the highest in more than two decades.
The average price for structural S1 logs in the domestic market held at $117 a tonne in December, the highest level since June 2014, according to AgriHQ's monthly survey of exporters, forest owners and saw millers.
S1 logs averaged $113/tonne this year, the highest level since 1994 when it averaged $118/tonne, AgriHQ said.