Phil Taylor, FOA president
New Zealand’s timber industry says it is ready to resume operations following the move to level 3 of lockdown from Monday next week. Alert level 3 will be held for two weeks and then Cabinet will assess whether to move down another level. Source: Timberbiz
The Forest Owners Association says its members and the supply chain are gearing up to meet the challenge of getting back to work within the health and safety provisions of Alert Level-3.
The forest industry in New Zealand was deemed to be a non-essential industry when the government imposed the Level 4 lockdown on 26 March.
The government’s move to cease Level-4 means the following parts of the forest supply chain can start moving again;
- forestry management, including aerial spraying, weed and pest management
- nursery operations, planting, and seed collection
- log harvesting and haulage
- log sales
- wood products processing
Businesses wanting to operate in Level-3 will have to develop site-specific procedures and processes to work safely to prevent the spread of COVID-19.
FOA President, Phil Taylor, says his organisation supported the Level-4 restrictions, but now is the time to get back to work.
“Right from the outset we have been focussed on the safety of our workforce,” he said.
“We’ve moved on from one month ago. Since then, there has been a collaborative process to develop protocols for operations right through the supply chain. They are at least as robust as those which have been used in the food packing and processing industry, and as far as I am aware completely successfully.”
The New Zealand timber processing industry had a whole month of virtually no production which it needs to catch up on.
“Some processers have already started producing for essential industries, such as making pallets for fruit exporters,’’ Mr Taylor said.
“But there will be thousands of work sites around New Zealand which are anxious for new timber supplies and construction workers keen to get back on the job and earning incomes as soon as they can.”
Mr Taylor said forest owners were just as eager to get exporting back to normal as well.
“Most of the timber processed in New Zealand is for export and that sector has taken a hit over the past month of lockdown,” he said.
“For our log export trade, we felt the impact of COVID-19 back in February with the shutdown in China and our logs sat on the wharves on the Chinese coast when their sawmills stopped working.”
Mr Taylor said it was expected that in March and April, the number of export log shipments will be half the number of last year.
“In effect, much of our harvest and logistics labour force has been in lockdown for two months, not just one. We have a lot of catching up to do.
“The first step is for the various parts of the industry to work out their compliance with the protocols at company and individual level.”
“We are seeking clarification from the government as to what work setting up and preparing for full production, we are able to do over the next week.
“For instance, there’s about $40 million worth of logs around the country which are becoming marginal for timber production. We need to transport these to processors or ports pretty much immediately.”
Mr Taylor said the forest industry had concerns that uncertainty of a labour force this winter would jeopardise the planting season.
“We are already late in site preparation, and for some planned planting it may already be too late,” he said.
The country’s The Ministry for Primary Industries has just released its survey estimate of potentially 100 million plantation forest seedings in nurseries for planting out starting next month.
“That’s the highest seedling production since the early 1990s. It reflects the widespread confidence in the long-term future for New Zealand’s forest industry,” Mr Taylor said.
“We are already in discussions with the government in what we need as an industry to maximise productivity and employment as we emerge from the COVID-19 crisis.
“The primary sector is going to lead recovery, and our valued forestry workforce is a major part of that.”
