CANBERRA, Oct 9, Asia Pulse - Consumption of sawn timber, wood-based panels and paper increased last financial year after a post-Olympics fall, the national commodities forecaster said today. The Australian Bureau of Agricultural and Resource Economics (ABARE) said sawn timber consumption climbed 13 per cent between 2001/02 and 2000/01. It was pushed by a 28.7 per cent jump in consumption between the June quarter of 2000/01 and last financial year. After a 7.2 per cent drop in newsprint consumption in 2000/01, it improved 5.2 per cent last year. ABARE executive director Brian Fisher said timber product consumption slipped markedly following the end of the Sydney Olympics in 2000 and the introduction of the new tax system. He said it now appeared consumption was returning to its long term average increase. Dr Fisher said the increased consumption had been largely met from locally grown timber. "The increase in consumption of sawn timber was largely met from domestic production of plantation softwoods," he said in a statement. "While production of other wood products also rose in 2001/02, it was not always sufficient to meet rising demand," he said. "Increased consumption of wood based panels was met by a combination of increased domestic production and imports of plywood and particleboard." ABARE found Australian exports of woodchips slipped six per cent to 4.7 million cubic metres in 2001/02, although this was still the third highest annual result on record. Despite the increase in local production, Australia still suffered a $1.7 billion deficit on forest and wood products. Total exports reached $1.9 billion in 2001/02, an increase of 4.3 per cent. Imports fell 6.6 per cent to $3.6 billion. New Zealand continued to be Australia's biggest source of food and wood products, accounting for $741.9 billion worth of product. (c) 2002 Asia Pulse Pte Limited