Forest Industries Ireland (FII) has said that timber, predominately from Sitka spruce, worth over €2 billion will be harvested over the next 12 years.
The Ibec forestry and timber trade association has carried out an analysis of the value of timber from private forests across Ireland in that time period.
The Roundwood Production Forecast estimates that over 40 million cubic metres of sawlog will be brought to market by private growers from now until 2035.
At current prices and excluding inflation this volume of timber is worth in excess of €2 billion.
FII said that conifers produce the valuable softwood timber products that are needed for construction and other sectors such as pallets, fencing, packaging, and bioenergy.
The latest data from the latest National Forest Inventory shows that Ireland’s forests will produce enough timber for 1.4 million homes by 2040.
Sitka spruce
Commenting on the analysis, Mark McAuley, director of Forest Industries Ireland, said: “The Irish forestry model is based on the production of softwood from Sitka spruce and the true economic value of this is becoming increasingly apparent.
“Farmers and others who invested in planting Sitka spruce over the last 30 years have built up a huge financial asset that will yield over €2 billion in cash flows to growers over the next twelve years.
“Ireland has the perfect conditions to grow conifers for the production of softwood – Sitka grows here at three times the speed of Scandinavia,” he said.
McAuley advised farmers to maximise the financial return from land holdings by “planting conifers and generating a valuable cash crop”.
“The market has an almost insatiable demand for timber to build homes and for other essential uses such as pallets, fencing and packaging.
“We will see timber prices increasing steadily over the next ten years,” he said.
The FII director said that Ireland should be aiming to build more homes from native-grown timber frame, along with further developing the export market.
“We are generating enough high-quality timber to build hundreds of thousands of green, home-grown homes.
“The production of softwood is one of the only financially attractive options for Irish agriculture to diversify land use and meet climate change targets, while at the same time delivering strong financial returns to farmers.
“Between the government grants that are available and a strong future market for timber, the planting of a cash crop of conifers is a good financial, and environmental option for farmers and investors,” McAuley said.