How Much Is My Eucalyptus Worth?

How is a eucalyptus stand valued?

Standing timber is valued with one formula. Count the trees, sort them into size grades, price each grade, then take away what it costs to turn trees into delivered product. In short: trees times grade price, minus harvest costs.

1. Count. The number of living, sound trees, not the number planted. Losses from drought, fire, termites or gall wasp mean the stand is usually thinner than the planting plan.
2. Grade. Sort by diameter, and by straightness and length where poles are wanted.
3. Price each grade. Use what real buyers will pay for that product at the roadside or at the depot, not a figure from an advert.
4. Take off the costs. Felling, cutting to length, loading, haulage and fees. What is left is the value of the trees in the ground, which is what a trees-only sale is about.

Land is not part of this value. When you sell on Land & Property the land is not included and the buyer pays for trees only. A valuation of a house works differently and is not a guide here. For the general method and the other species, see how standing timber is valued and, for pine, how much is my pine plantation worth.

How do I grade eucalyptus by diameter?

Diameter at breast height, or DBH, is the width of the trunk measured about 1.3 metres above the ground. It is the usual way to sort a standing stand, because a thicker tree can yield a bigger pole. Buyers rarely publish their own DBH cut-offs. We found no public price list that ties a UGX figure to a DBH class, so ask each buyer for their minimum top diameter and length in writing.

The one published size rule we could open is the East African standard EAS 322:2002 for treated power poles. It lists Eucalyptus saligna and grandis as accepted species. Its sizes apply to debarked, seasoned poles, measured at 1.5 metres from the butt, so they are not the same as a standing DBH reading, but they show how large a utility pole must be.

The standard also limits taper to 10 mm per metre of length and requires poles to be dried to an average of no more than 28 percent moisture, and no single pole above 30 percent, before treatment. A long, straight, thick tree can meet this. Most trees in a mixed stand cannot, and will be sold as building poles, scaffold poles or firewood, each with its own buyer.

What price evidence exists, and how old is it?

Be careful with any price you see online. The table lists the evidence we could open, with its date and what it can and cannot show. Nothing in it is a verified 2026 transaction price.

Two things follow. First, the biggest step in value is between small poles and timber or transmission size, so each year of growth in the right stand matters. Second, prices fell after the 2023 directive on unprocessed timber exports, and we have no source showing they have fully recovered. Treat every figure as a starting point for a conversation with buyers.

Which costs come off the value of my trees?

Trees in the ground are worth less than trees at the factory gate. Ask each buyer which of these costs they carry, because the answer changes what they can pay.

• Felling and cutting to length. Labour or crew charges, and fuel for saws.
• Loading and haulage. The CIFOR report records that buyers deducted transport costs when trees stood far from the road.
• Permit and district charges. The NFA says harvesting for trade on private land attracts a permit fee, and none applies for personal use. A 2012 WWF study found no uniformity between districts in fees and taxes, and reported that most District Forest Officers treated a tax of 30 percent of timber value as the standard rate on timber from private land, though it was rarely collected. That is from 2012. Ask your District Forest Officer what applies today.
• Treatment, if poles go to a treatment plant. Under EAS 322 poles must be seasoned and preservative-treated. Ask the buyer who carries this cost.
• Your own costs. Count, boundary survey, advocate's time, and any road repairs.

Our tree value calculator guide lets you enter counts, grade prices and costs to see the result, and cost to establish an acre shows what young stands cost to plant, a useful reference point for a stand that is too young to grade.

Why does a quote without a count mean little?

A buyer who says "I will give you UGX 6 million an acre" has told you nothing until you know how many trees stand on that acre and how big they are. A price per acre hides the count, and a stand can lose many trees between planting and harvest.

Take the 2024 reporting as an illustration only. If an acre has about 200 mature trees and the buyer pays UGX 6 million, the average is UGX 30,000 a tree. Suppose your acres hold only 170 sound trees. At the same average, those 30 missing trees are worth about UGX 900,000 an acre, and on 10 acres that is UGX 9 million, all of it silently paid for trees that are not there. In the other direction, an owner who has not counted may sell a dense, large-grade stand at a price meant for a poor one. These numbers show the arithmetic only. They are not a price for your trees.

The fix is simple: count first, with a sample-plot method and a written forest inventory report. Then decide whether to price per tree, per acre or as a lump sum, using per tree or per acre. For a buyer's view, see eucalyptus trees for sale.

What do eucalyptus products sell as, and who buys them?

This table is for eucalyptus only. Pine is sold on a different basis, covered on its own page. The columns show product, the buyers we could verify, and what decides price.

Because the product depends on the tree, a seller with a mixed stand often gains by selling each grade to the buyer who values it most. That is one reason to pool grades into a single trees-only contract only after you know the split. See how to sell standing trees for the full route table.

What should I do this week to find out my number?

1. Confirm the area. Walk the boundary and record the acreage, and do not rely on a figure written on an old title.
2. Measure a sample. Count and measure the trees in several small plots spread across the block, then scale up to the whole stand.
3. Photograph the stand with dates, and note the planting year and any thinning.
4. Ask three buyers for their size requirements and a written offer on the same count.
5. List the stand, trees only, so that buyers see your count, price per tree and tree age. The steps are at list your forest, and buyers can see current forest listings. The forest trees hub links to every page in this guide.

Frequently asked questions

Related guides

• Forest Trees for Sale in Uganda: Standing Pine and Eucalyptus
• What a Forest Inventory Report Should Contain
• How Much Is My Pine Plantation Worth?
• Eucalyptus Trees for Sale in Uganda: Buyer's Guide
• How to Check the Number of Trees Before You Pay
• Standing Tree Value Calculator for Uganda