Timberland investment manager New Forests, which controls the plantation feedstock for any potential pulp mill, said that it would remain focused on export markets despite the chance a mill at Bell Bay pulp could be resurrected. Sources: News.com.au, The Mercury
Receiver for Gunns Ltd, Korda Mentha, has advertised for expressions of interest in the Bell Bay site and the environmental permits for the contentious pulp mill.
The advertising campaign unleashed opposition from Markets for Change and the No Pulp Mill Alliance which both questioned whether native forest pulpwood could be used in the mill.
“We know that the former Gunns plantation estate is not available. Surely this can’t mean we are looking at massive volumes of wood logged from Tasmania’s native forests,’’ Markets for Change chief Peg Putt said.
A State Government spokesman said the Federal Government’s permits specified the feedstock be plantation wood.
He said the State Government had made it clear it was unable to provide a developer with any assistance.
Last year, New Forests bought 96,580ha of Gunns plantation and 54,200ha of managed investment scheme plantation.
“New Forests and associated investment trust Forico both remain focused on current export markets, and those are the basis for the business plans and strategy we have in place,” a New Forests spokeswoman said.
“In the event a pulp mill is developed, any prospective purchaser would be competing with the broader international market and our current customers for our wood supply.”
New Forests sells woodchips to China, Japan and India.
No Pulp Mill Alliance spokeswoman Lucy Landon-Lane said community opposition to the Tamar Valley pulp mill was as strong as ever.
Gunns spent more than $220 million developing the Bell Bay site and obtaining environmental approvals before collapsing with debts of about $3 billion in 2012.
The falling Australian dollar has made the price of any Bell Bay pulp more competitive. However, pulp mill infrastructure from Europe is likely to be more expensive.
Greens Senator Peter Whish-Wilson said there was not a chance in the world that anyone would want to build a pulp mill at the bottom of the world. He said the business case had never stacked up.
