The FTA, in plain terms

New Zealand and India signed their Free Trade Agreement on 27 April 2026, ratified it on 21 September 2026, and it enters into force on 20 October 2026. On day one, around 57% of New Zealand's current exports to India become tariff-free immediately, rising to 82% over time, with sharp reductions on a further 13%. In total, roughly 95% of New Zealand's exports to India will eventually enjoy preferential access under the agreement.

Forestry and wood products are singled out as one of the standout categories. More than 95% of New Zealand's forestry and wood exports will enter India duty-free immediately from entry into force, with tariffs on almost all remaining lines phased out over seven years. Before the FTA, most wood lines into India carried duties of between 5.5% and 11%.

Key dates and numbers

  • FTA signed: 27 April 2026
  • Ratified by both governments: 21 September 2026
  • Enters into force: 20 October 2026
  • Forestry/wood tariff-free immediately: 95%+ of export lines
  • Remaining wood tariffs phased out over: 7 years
  • Previous wood tariffs into India: 5.5%–11%

Why forestry specifically stands to gain

New Zealand wood and wood products are already the country's largest goods export category, and the India relationship has particular history behind it. New Zealand once held the lion's share of the pine market into India — a market worth around NZ$200 million. Australia, which secured its own trade agreement with India, grew its equivalent market to roughly NZ$600 million over the same period, effectively taking the ground New Zealand exporters had built. The NZ-India FTA is widely described in the industry as levelling that playing field back up — not a new opportunity from nothing, but a chance to reclaim lost ground with a genuine tariff advantage behind it.

That reclaiming has already started ahead of the FTA formally taking effect. New Zealand Forest Managers resumed pine log exports to India in the first half of 2025 — the first time since the 2019/20 period — describing it as "the beginning of a renewed focus on the Indian market." More broadly, wood exports to India have already tripled to roughly NZ$193 million, driven primarily by logs, with sawmills increasingly fielding enquiries for higher-value sawn timber and engineered wood products as well.

"This is a meaningful structural shift that reduces friction at the border and immediately improves the competitiveness of New Zealand timber and fibre in one of the world's fastest-growing economies."

Beyond tariffs: what else changes

The tariff numbers get the headlines, but the non-tariff parts of the agreement matter just as much for exporters working in tight-margin, high-volume trade like logs and lumber. Streamlined customs processes and clearer regulatory frameworks are expected to reduce delays at the border and improve delivery certainty — both critical for exporters where shipping timelines and demurrage costs can make or break a deal. The agreement also opens the door to deeper collaboration in forestry research, education and sustainable practices between the two countries, which should support productivity gains over time rather than just a one-off tariff win.

Logs today, lumber next

Historically, the New Zealand-India timber relationship has been dominated by log exports. That's changing. New Zealand's wood processing sector is actively pitching sawn timber and engineered wood products to Indian buyers — not just raw logs — betting on India's construction demand, rapid urbanisation and a growing preference for sustainably sourced wood. Whether that shift from logs to higher-value lumber actually sticks will depend on processing capacity and sustained industry engagement on both sides, but the early signal — a real rise in enquiries for sawn product within weeks of the FTA's April signing — is a positive one.

What this means if you're a New Zealand producer or sawmiller

A lower landed cost in India is only useful if it turns into an actual, repeatable sale. The tariff removal changes the economics of the trade; it doesn't by itself create the customer relationships, the market knowledge, or the on-the-ground presence needed to convert that opportunity into volume. That's the part that takes longer to build than a tariff schedule takes to phase in — and it's exactly where an established market-access partner with existing distribution relationships in India shortens the path considerably, versus starting from a cold introduction.

For producers who exited or scaled back the Indian market over the past several years — a real pattern across the industry through the 2019–2024 period — this is a natural point to reassess. The tariff structure that made India difficult to compete in against Australian suppliers is being corrected. The demand side (construction, urbanisation, sustainable sourcing preference) is already there. What's needed now is distribution.

How Kandla Timber Associates fits in

Kandla Timber Associates has been facilitating New Zealand Radiata Pine trade into India since 2008 — through the period when the market contracted, and now into the period the FTA is designed to reopen. We're not a merchant buying and reselling stock; we're a market-access and trade facilitation partner, representing New Zealand forest owners and producers with an existing, working distribution network across furniture manufacturing, construction, joinery, pallets and packaging, and industrial wood applications in India.

If you're a New Zealand log or lumber producer weighing whether — or how — to re-enter or expand in the Indian market as the FTA takes effect, that's exactly the conversation worth having now, ahead of the 20 October entry into force, rather than after competitors have already moved.