In response to the problems, and the costs, of wilding conifer control (ODT, 28.12.11) there is considerable scope to mitigate much of these costs with the recovery of saleable wood in the form of saw logs, post timber (roundwood), firewood and the potential income from chipping residue for boiler fuel.
The latter is becoming a serious contender as a source for alternative energy to fossil fuels, a project I had been investigating for much of last year. And there is a huge potential source of biomass, particularly from wilding clearance.
The Ministry of Agriculture & Forestry says foresters seeking carbon credits through the Emissions Trading Scheme have been driving much of the increase in new tree plantings.
MAF's estimates, based on reports from commercial forestry nurseries, show that 67 million seedlings were planted during the year to April. That's a 27% increase on the previous year.
MAF says that would equate to 12,000 hectares of new plantings on top of what's needed to replace harvested forest.
New Zealand’s sawn timber exports to China have been ‘hammered’, while raw log shipments surged in the wake of Beijing’s efforts to cool the economy and amid increased sales by rival forestry nations such as Canada, according to an industry lobby group.Lumber exports fell 16 percent to $264 million in the four months ended Sept. 30, according to New Zealand Timber Industry Federation figures. Exports to China fell 19 percent to $44.7 million and shipments to the US fell 23 percent to $40.2 million.
National Party promises to adopt some of the recommendations made by the panel that reviewed the Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS) have been welcomed by forest owners. But they say much more policy work is needed if forestry is to achieve its potential for New Zealand.
Log exportation from New Zealand continues to rise at a record pace, with almost one-third of the country’s timber harvest being processed at sawmills in China. The high demand for logs from overseas has increased domestic sawlog prices to their highest levels in 15 years, according to the Wood Resource Quarterly.
Exports of Southland eucalyptus woodchips have according to the Southland Times doubled in the past two years and the wood is on the way to becoming the region’s main timber export. South Port chief executive Mark O’Connor said the volume of chips heading to Japan had climbed from 100,000 tonnes to more than 200,000 tonnes in two years, with the potential to climb beyond 250,000 tonnes.
New Zealand wood panels are being used for reconstruction in Japan after the devastating earthquake and tsunami in March 2011. The Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry has just released forestry production and trade figures for the April to June 2011 quarter.
The statistics show that roundwood removals reached an estimated 6.9 million cubic metres during the quarter. This is the ninth consecutive quarter of growth underpinned by the large volume of log exports, says Andrew Doube, MAF’s Acting Manager of Sector Infrastructure.
A NZ$7 million factory producing cross-laminated timber panels is to be established at Tahunanui, Nelson, with its backers saying it provides a ready-made solution for the rebuilding of Christchurch. The first of its kind in the southern hemisphere and 18 months in the planning, the factory is expected to start production in January 2012 and employ 15, mostly local people.
Seattle, WA, August 03, 2011 -- A Malaysian forestry firm has bought a large portion of forest land in New Zealand, which could boost sustainable forestry in the region, according to Forestry Research Associates (FRA).
The New Zealand Overseas Investment Office has allowed Timbergrow Limited, the Malaysian-owned firm that also owns Ernslaw One, to buy an additional 10,367 hectares of land on the East Coast of the country.
Over recent weeks, export log markets have continued to react to oversupply with inventories building and softening prices. This situation of supply being well out of balance with demand is now very pronounced in China and India, and to a lesser extent in Korea and Japan. Irrespective of whether the primary reasons are due to high inventory/slowing demand or pricing being indexed to China, domestic log and processed product prices have decreased across all markets and general trading conditions have become far more challenging than earlier in the year.
