Here’s a great story for all those 14,000 New Zealand farm forest growers with plantations coming due for harvesting. If this is successful it will revolutionise the already very successful New Zealand forest industry. Forestry is New Zealand’s third largest export earner after dairy and meat. Last year’s total forestry exports were worth $NZ4.3 billion.
Yesterday a new forestry company, United Forestry Group, targeting owners of small forests in New Zealand was launched. Its cornerstone shareholder is a joint venture between international timber marketer Pentarch, which is headquartered in Melbourne and has been operating in New Zealand for more than 10 years, and a Chinese conglomerate, Xiangyu Group. The company’s offering small forest owners (there are around 14,000 forests under 1000 hectares which account for just over a third of New Zealand’s plantation resource) benefits similar to the pastoral sector’s co-operatives such as Fonterra in marketing and economies of scale.
It is believed production from New Zealand’s small forest growers over the next 20 years could be worth $NZ30 billion.
http://www.fridayoffcuts.com/#1
I wonder if the United Forestry Group will form sub-groups to offer these services to growers of other species besides Pinus radiata, such as blackwood? New Zealand blackwood growers would really benefit from such a service.
Those New Zealanders really do understand what forestry is all about.
I will be following this story closely over the coming years to see how it develops and keep readers informed. It’s good to have a good news story.
Tasmanian Blackwood Growers Cooperative 
Continuing into the abyss
With resolute determination, precision and predictability the Tasmanian forest industry continues its long, slow, painful journey towards extinction with the dismantling of the Tasmanian Forestry Agreement 2013.
http://www.abc.net.au/news/2014-08-28/tasmanian-forestry-repeal-bill-passes-parliament/5702524?section=tas
http://www.themercury.com.au/news/tasmania/liberals-forestry-bill-passes-first-vote-in-legislative-council/story-fnj4f7k1-1227038639934
http://www.examiner.com.au/story/2519505/mlcs-poised-to-axe-forest-deal/?cs=95
And despite numerous promises by the State Treasurer and the State Resources Minister to not continue using scarce Tasmanian taxpayers money to subsidise the logging of public native forest, that is exactly what has been announced for yet another year.
With no plan for the forest industry and no plan to change Forestry Tasmania into a fully commercial profitable Government Business Enterprise, there is now little hope for the future of the industry.
With the forestry wars resuming it is unlikely Forestry Tasmania will gain FSC certification. Not that it matters. Either way no one but the Chinese will buy Tasmanian forest products; and the Chinese will only buy if the Tasmanian taxpayer pays for the harvesting and transport.
It’s pretty much all over! There is nothing left but a whole lot more pain for the community to endure.
It’s now just a case of watching the last remaining customers close business – the sawmills, the furniture factories, the craft shops and retailers.
This is economic and commercial mismanagement that the Tasmanian economy can well do without. Private forest growers are just overwhelmed by the tidal wave of negative political and market sentiment.
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Posted in Commentary, Forestry Tasmania, Politics