Report of the international workshop on improving international forest products price information

Transcription

1 Report of the international workshop on improving international forest products price information Brussels, November 3, 2011 A joint project of the European Forest Institute and the UNECE/FAO Forestry and Timber Section Draft

2 2 Table of Contents 1. Introduction Themes of the workshop Current status of international forest products price information Actors perceptions of forest products price information Best practice examples for improved data collection Needs for continued collaboration Plenary discussion Conclusions and recommendations Conclusions Recommendations... 7

3 3 1. Introduction Forest products price information is in growing demand in the public and private sector. However, the timely provision of such information is hampered by several constraints, including unwillingness of raw data providers (forest owners and forest industry companies), lack of resources (human and material) and methodological problems (sampling of data providers, product definition and specification, etc.). In order to stimulate the discussion on this issue, a one-day workshop took place on 3 rd November 2011 at the European Forestry House in Brussels. It was co- organized by the European Forest Institute (EFI) and the UNECE/FAO Forestry and Timber Section. The workshop brought together 18 participants representing various stakeholders who presented and discussed various themes relevant to Forest products price information. In this report, the highlights of the presentations of various participants and conclusions and recommendations of the workshop are presented. 2. Themes of the workshop The workshop had four themes corresponding to four sessions: (1) Current status of international forest products price information, (2) Actors perceptions of forest products price information, (3) Best practice examples for improved data collection, and (4) Needs for continued collaboration Current status of international forest products price information This section had five presentations. The need for forest products price information from intergovernmental perspective was identified by Mr. Alex McCusker of the UNECE/FAO Forestry and Timber Section. He stressed the importance of forest products price information in reporting on markets through the Forest Products Annual Market Review (FPAMR). Most users of the current price database appeared to be from outside the industry and needed basic information. More information on user needs was required. The experience of the FAO in forest products price data collection and use was presented by Mr. Arvydas Lebedys. He noted that the FAO has ceased the publication of forest products prices since 20 years ago. However, it is possible to derive general trends in prices for most products from trade data in FAOSTAT. FAO Forestry Department could assist the UNECE/FAO Forestry and Timber Section in forest products price database development and management if the UNECE/FAO decided to maintain it. Price information was particularly lacking for products with a low level of trade. From forest consultants perspective, Mr. Antti Koskinen of Pöyry Management Consulting OY stressed the importance of forest products price information the bedrock of all consultants projects. This included prices of non-raw material and co-products. In his turn, Mr. Jarno Seppälä of Indufor OY buttressed the previous speaker (including calling for information on EWPs and other secondary products such as joinery) and provided comparative data availability by product and country, and

4 4 stressed that secondary data from sub-consultants and primary data from personal and telephone interviews and from sub-consultants were increasingly important to consultants. Mr. Ibrahim Favada and Mr. Paul Rougieux, both from EFI presented the availability of online price information sources, especially in the UNECE region (Europe, CIS and North America). These information sources were used to develop a forest products price portal which was described and illustrated to the participants Actors perceptions of forest products price information The session received three presentations. A representative of CEPF, Mr. Wendelin Gravenreuth, informed the participant that price was the driving force for timber harvests. He noted that the current economic and financial crises discouraged timber harvests from private individual forest owners. From wood working industry perspective, Mr. Fillip De Jaeger of CEI-BOIS emphasized that price information is important. However, the industry refrains from discussing actual prices per se because of competition law. He further showed the importance of price information to understand the wood working industry products price development (using price indexes of sawn softwood, softwood log, etc.). In her statement, Ms. Isabelle Brose of the European Panel Federation (a member of CEI bois) mentioned about an in-house collection and use of cost indexes, among other things, on raw material inputs, roundwood, and wood residues Best practice examples for improved data collection Four presentations were delivered. From forest owners perspective, Mr. Inazio Martínez de Arano of USSE described the timber market conditions of forest owners in South of Europe. He stressed the need for price information for policy developments in the energy sector, among other things, to increase bargaining power of private individual forest owners, and forest catastrophic management such as storm damages. From forest industry perspective, Mr. Igors Krasavcevs of Latvian Wood described the Forest Industry Information Center, a third party information provider on log delivery contracts between forest owners and industry. It is part of a research Institute owned by the Latvian Forest Industry Federation and the Latvian State Forests. The significant amount of work and resources needed for collecting price data were highlighted. From the UK timber industry perspective, Mr. Nick Boulton of the Timber Trade Federation informed the participants that there was high demand of price information in the UK. He emphasized that price information was good for free market but it cannot be enforced by law. Given the sensitivity of data providers, difficulty in collection and legal constraint, he suggested technological solutions whereby data providers can input data into a database and instantly get overall price information. Ideally providers would be freed from legal problems in reporting

5 5 In his statement, Mr. Michel-Paul Morel of the French Ministry of Agriculture informed the participants of past unsuccessful attempts to provide a unified source of wood prices in France based on voluntary contributions of forest organizations, although a recent initiative (The economic observatory of France Bois Forêts) seems more promising. However, in order to obtain independent information on roundwood prices, the Ministry of Agriculture entrusted its statistical agency to implement a permanent compulsory price survey with a sample of logging companies. The first edition was issued in July 2011; the next one is scheduled for January 2012 and so on. The survey focuses on roadside prices. In this regard, given the natural conditions of French forests, the variability of the real prices is too important. The Industry organizations agreed on price collection only if indexes were published Needs for continued collaboration There were four presentations in these sessions. The gaps in international forest products price availability was discussed by Mr. Andreas Schuck of the EFI. He informed participants that in previous study by EFI on information availability in the European forest sector, the demand for forest information was seen as high while price information was described as partly available or missing. He described the UNECE/FAO price series which contained 24 countries of which 12 are in the EU. He noted that there were usability issues and many gaps (few products, periodicity differs). On the other hand, Mr. Alex McCusker presented the analysis of gaps in data availability and dissemination of price series. He noted that price analysis was a significant part of almost all wood marketing publications but there were limited possibilities for cross-country comparisons. Regarding dissemination gaps, he noted that the UNECE/FAO Forestry and Timber section should improve its communication in this area, and that there was no database of meta-information before the EFI forest products price information portal. There was a general lack of awareness of the availability of price data outside the industry. Mr. Martti Aarne of the Finnish Forest Research Institute (METLA) provided information on Finnish experience in data collection, processing and dissemination, and regional collaboration on roundwood price data collection and maintenance among 5 countries: Estonia, Finland, Lithuania, Norway and Sweden. He informed the participants of developments in the pipeline concerning reporting, among other things, on wood energy, improved coverage of statistics and data auditing system. Regarding an international solution, Mr. Steve Johnson of the International Tropical Timber Organization (ITTO) presented the ITTO experience in price data collection and maintenance from the ITTO producer and consumer countries. He emphasized the success of the fortnight market information services of the ITTO which provides indicative prices of major tropical species. He noted the involvement of the private sector (on fee basis) in data collection Plenary discussion A number of issues were discussed during the workshop. There was a consensus that import and export unit values provide an overall view of the market development. These values could be used as an error checking tool; however, one should be aware of the problem of aggregated data. The participants noted that the emergence of online timber marketplaces widens the sources of price information on a large market area. The lack of availability of biomass prices, coproducts and inputs was discussed. In addition,

6 6 the participants noted that there was a lack of understanding of the impacts of biomass prices on other subsectors of the forest sector. The values and biomass prices would be monitored in Finland. The availability of price information can influence wood mobilization from private individual forests. The profitability of forests was discussed. Some profitability studies had been done but no current information on profitability of forests. There was a desire to have an overall profitability study that included subsidies and costs. Finally, the issue of real and index prices was discussed. One JFSQ correspondent said his country publishes both real and index prices. Other said his agency publishes only price index to reduce concern from data suppliers. The need for real prices for international studies was emphasized. 3. Conclusions and recommendations The participants agreed that the conclusions and recommendations from this workshop be presented for action at the UNECE/FAO Working Party on Forest Economics and Statistics and the EUROSTAT Working Group on Forest Statistics meeting Conclusions The workshop concluded as follows: Needs for price data Users have many different needs for and means of accessing information. Industry and market participants seem to have most data they need whereas forest owners and outsiders do not; Long-term series are important for policy setting, e.g. the UNECE/FAO price databases, including for European Forest Sector Outlook Study; Policy development requires adequate forest products price information, and understanding how policies affect prices; Forests are converted to other land uses in tropics because of the low profitability of forest products, partly due to the weak knowledge of prices; Forest products (including coproducts) prices are essential for various industrial projects such as feasibility studies of establishing a sawmill, making business plans, mergers and acquisitions and valuation; and Secondary data from sub-consultants and primary data from personal and telephone interviews are important to consultants. Data availability and quality There is considerable variation in quality and availability of price series available today on the internet. For example validation problems exist with EUROSTAT internal trade statistics; Available data include unit price figures which appear to be underused; The forest sector finds it difficult to harmonize market and price information;

7 7 Excellent examples of national and international market information systems exist, and sharing of expertise was offered at the workshop; A limiting factor in downstream price reporting is fear of price collusion; Resources (financial and human) are key to development; The new EFI price portal is an important advancement in improving forest products price information; The METLA Metinfo, ITTO and UNECE/FAO Forestry and Timber section are the only current public international price data sources; and The FAO Forest Department staff would provide their inputs for database development and maintenance by the UNECE/FAO Forestry and Timber Section Recommendations The workshop recommended the following: Data providers Innovative benefits are necessary for price information contributors, for example earlier access to current prices; and Forest Europe s legally binding agreement on forests in Europe should include data sharing requirements, in lieu of an obligation to provide price information National governments More transparency and reliability is necessary for international forest products prices; Joint Forest Sector Questionnaire correspondents should continue to use their expertise to adjust customs statistics; Capacity building is needed to establish national marketing information system; and Ease concerns on price collusion when price data are being collected. Intergovernmental organizations EFI Forest Products Price Information portal could distinguish between sources that provide spot prices from those that provide price series; EU Standing Forestry Working Group should consider developing facilitating market information; ITTO should upload price series to their website, initially as Excel spreadsheets, and eventually add them to their relational, online statistical database; and The UNECE/FAO should conduct a user survey for its price database such as the one done for its Forest Products Annual Market Review.