Activity in Tasmania’s plantation forestry sector is picking up after a deep and prolonged downturn. Tas Land and Forest managing director Kent Lyon said new markets for soft and hardwood timber were emerging. Source: ABC Rural
“We’re very busy and markets are good,” he said.
Tas Land and Forest manages plantation harvesting and marketing for private landowners.
Mr Lyon said hardwood prices were stable and much better since the value of the Australian dollar had dropped this year.
He said softwood demand and prices also were rising as supplies of northern hemisphere softwood tailed off over the northern winter.
“With softwoods we’ve probably got seven or eight products out of one plantation,” Mr Lyon said.
“Hardwood is very different. There’s usually only two or maybe three products.
“We have the standard chip market, and on the back of that with hardwood, there are two markets for peeler logs.
“So there’s some competition again, which is obviously good for the grower.”
The increased activity in Tasmania is reflected in the Australian Bureau of Agricultural and Resource Economics and Sciences’ (ABARES) latest report on the forestry sector.
The report, Australian forest and wood products statistics: March and June quarters 2015, estimates the volume of logs harvested increased by about 8 per cent, to more than 27 million cubic metres in 2014–15.
The state-owned Forestry Tasmania also has reported its wood and woodchip exports have grown by more than 30 per cent in the year to August, to $35 million. That is up $8 million on the previous year.
The signs of improvement in Tasmania’s plantation sector are exemplified by Pentarch Forestry.
It competed successfully for contracts to supply Eucalyptus nitens logs from its base at Heybridge near Burnie to China’s industrial plywood makers.
The Tasmanian plantation eucalypts form the core of pallets used in containers by one of the largest international shipping firms.
Pentarch Forestry general manager in Tasmania, David Martin, said the company had aimed for stability by pursuing more diverse markets.
He said the strategy appeared to be paying off.
“We’d like to see that we’d be in between 150,000 and 200,000 tonnes put through the business [this year],” Mr Martin said.
“It’s not large compared with previous large companies, but to us it is a big number.
“And it’s a big number because we’re also doing a lot more work to get our product ready for the market.”
Pentarch Forestry has grown its Tasmanian workforce to 45 people, and has a large yard filled with logs ready to ship to China’s structural plywood sector.
“We’re required to sell each log individually,” Mr Martin said.
“They’re purchased individually, and our chain of custody process provides for a well-oiled system that ensures that the customer gets what he pays for.
“In the market sector that we’ve developed in China, it’s seen as an advantaged product.
“It’s not as heavy as the native timbers that were used from other countries, and it’s a certified product.”
Pentarch Forestry is one of the forestry businesses growing in Tasmania in the wake of the failed managed investment schemes (MIS).
Mr Lyon said he thought the returns to Tasmanian tree growers were now sufficient for most to re-establish plantations once the first MIS crop was shipped off.
