Forest Products Industry

New Forests has appointed Sam Rorabaugh as Global Head of Investments, replacing David Shelton, who will now focus fully on his role as Managing Director, Australia and New Zealand, and New Forests’ overall global growth ambitions. Source: Timberbiz In this role Mr Rorabaugh will provide leadership across New Forests’ global investment platform and work with regional investment teams across North America, Australia and New Zealand, Africa and Asia to support the continued development and execution of investment opportunities. He will continue in his current role as Regional Director of Investments, North America, alongside the Global Head of Investments position. Mr Rorabaugh will also play a key role in the recently launched Global Landscape Opportunities strategy, New Forests’ first global natural capital offering which will invest across forestry, agriculture, associated processing and infrastructure, and complementary markets such as carbon and biodiversity. Since joining New Forests in 2020, Mr Rorabaugh has led the North American investment team while supporting investment activity across New Forests’ regional teams. He has also worked across New Forests’ global investment and business development teams, supporting capital-raising initiatives and investment transactions. Mr Shelton has played a significant role in many of New Forests’ investments across forestry, agriculture and related infrastructure and processing, as well as developing the firm’s investment platform through his leadership, technical expertise and focus on people and client relationships. “Sam brings strong investment experience, a collaborative approach and a clear understanding of the opportunities available across New Forests’ breadth of natural capital strategies,” Michelle Elliot, Executive Director, Global Funds Management, New Forests, said. “Since joining New Forests, he has built trusted relationships externally amongst our investors and internally across our regional investment teams. “Sam’s appointment reflects the strength of our internal talent and positions him to build on the global investment platform established under David’s leadership. I look forward to working closely with Sam as we continue to develop opportunities for our clients across North America, Europe, Latin America and our other regional markets.” David Shelton, Managing Director, Australia and New Zealand, New Forests, said Mr Rorabaugh had developed a strong understanding of New Forest’s investment approach and had made an important contribution across New Forests’ business. “As natural capital continues to evolve into a recognised asset class, I’m excited to be working closely with Sam to help more investors understand the importance of including natural capital as an essential component of their portfolios,” he said.

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The Forest Practices Authority (FPA) has announced it will commission an independent review into its investigation processes. Source: Tasmanian Country The organisation’s operations have been under scrutiny, with the Farmers and Landowners Action Group (FLAG) forming after the FPA handed out six-figure fines to farmers for unauthorised land clearing on private property. FPA Chief Forest Practices Officer Anne Chuter said she was aware of concerns that some landowners have raised about its investigation and enforcement activities. She said the FPA had a responsibility to enforce the law fairly, consistently and in the public interest. “At the same time, we are committed to listening, learning and continually improving how we engage with the community while carrying out these responsibilities.” Ms Chuter said the FPA would be strengthening its engagement with landholders. “We are working closely with TasFarmers to review and improve our communication materials so information about land clearing requirements is clear, practical and accessible. “Second, we have commissioned an independent review of our investigation processes.  “The review will examine whether these processes and our decision-making are appropriate, proportionate, transparent and consistent with community expectations. “Independence is critical to the credibility of this work, so the review will be conducted at arm’s length from both the FPA and the regulated community, while still providing opportunities for stakeholders to contribute their views and experiences.” The organisation said its compliance officers’ role includes gathering information, assessing evidence and, at times, having difficult conversations about legal obligations and compliance. Ms Chuter said this was important work, and the FPA did not take it lightly. “There are occasions when compliance officers need to use formal legal processes or language, including entering a property where the law provides that authority to collect information relevant to an investigation. “We understand these interactions can feel personal or confronting. “We also recognise that most landowners are doing their best to understand and comply with what can sometimes be complex requirements.” Premier Jeremy Rockliff said he was listening to what farmers were saying. “It’s clear there needs to be change, and we continue to work with farmers to deliver that change. “Work is underway on an independent review of the Forest Practices Association following a meeting with the Government and FLAG on September 1. “Following the rally, the Minister for Primary Industries and I met with the FLAG farmers group and TasFarmers to talk about next steps. “I want to thank our farmers, it’s not easy finding time in spring to get away from the farm and come to the city, so I very much appreciate that they stood up and made their voices heard.” The government has begun consultation on the Forest Practices Regulations.

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Tasmanian farmers have driven their tractors to Parliament House to protest against forestry regulation they say is fining them out of business. Source: Pulse Tasmania The tractors rolled into Hobart from across the south-east and the Midlands, Huon Valley and Derwent Valley for the Thursday rally, which began at 11am. The protest targets the Forest Practices Authority (FPA), which the farmers say hands out heavy fines for clearing trees on their own land. Organiser Lindsay White said the campaign started just before June, after his friend William ‘Farlie’ Fergusson was fined $100,000 for what White described as taking down “a few trees” to install a centre pivot in a calving paddock. White said he posted about the fine online and had more than 100,000 views within four days. “I thought, hello, there’s something seriously wrong here that so many people have responded so badly,” he told the crowd of hundreds. He said a King Island farmer was fined for clearing fence lines to fireproof his property, with the penalty reduced from $170,000 to $140,000, then to $100,000, with no reason given. White said the authority had fined 50 farmers about $2 million over the past five years and would not say where the money had gone. Fergusson’s wife, Melissa Ferguson, told the rally the couple never expected to be lobbying the government. She said the family had farmed at Grindstone Bay on the east coast since the 1950s and that her husband now had a criminal conviction over farm works on their own land. Ferguson said the trees were cleared in 2023, partly to make a sheltered paddock for calving heifers, during a year in which she was having chemotherapy, surgery and radiation after a breast cancer diagnosis. She said the couple accepted they had not had a required forest practices plan and had cooperated fully, but that the process that followed was unfair. Ferguson said the FPA board offered a prescribed fine of $132,000, even though its own officer put comparable cases at between $45,000 and $90,000. She said the couple were never given a reason for the higher figure. “The board thinks they are above justifying their actions,” she said, describing what she was told when the family asked how the fine was calculated. Ferguson said the family offered to rehabilitate 27 hectares elsewhere on the farm, four times the area cleared, but were told they would still have to pay $82,000. The matter went to court, where her husband pleaded guilty and was fined $100,000. Ferguson said she had lost trust in the current FPA board and called on its members to resign. The farmers want an independent review, simpler rules and compensation where land use rights are taken away. Central Highlands farmer Will Bignell, from Thorpe Farm near Bothwell, told the rally the fight was about far more than farming. “Every new rule on its own is always explained as something small. It’s just another form, another fee, another consultant, another inspection,” he said. “But who is measuring what happens when you stack it all up? You have a wall.” Bignell, whose family has farmed the same land for 202 years, said the problem was regulation built around the worst-case scenario. “Good regulation manages risk. It doesn’t pretend risk can be eliminated,” he said. “When every rule is designed around the worst possible operator, we end up regulating the good operators as though they’re bad ones and everybody pays the price for that.” He said farmers who delivered environmental benefits on their own land were being left to foot the bill. “Private land is privately owned. If biodiversity on someone’s farm provides the whole community a benefit, then the whole community should help pay for it,” he said. “Don’t restrict what the owner can do and then send the entire bill to the landowner.” Bignell said the state government could not set an agricultural growth target while regulating farmers out of the investment needed to reach it. “You want a $10 billion agricultural industry? Great. Show us your numbers,” he said. “You’ve measured what you want from us – now start measuring what you are doing to us.” The rally spilled into parliament, where the state government faced questions from both the opposition and the crossbench. Shooters, Fishers and Farmers MP Carlo Di Falco asked Premier Jeremy Rockliff what he was doing for farmers. The premier said he had seen the tractors parked outside and praised White for “rallying the cause”. He said he would meet White and other farmers this afternoon. Rockliff said governments needed to ease the “red tape burden” on farmers but that regulation still needed to be “sensible and balanced”. Deputy Labor leader Janie Finlay asked Primary Industries Minister Gavin Pearce whether he would support the independent review the farmers wanted. Pearce did not commit to one. He said he heard the concerns “loud and clear” and had spoken to TasFarmers three times this morning. He said the issue was structural and could not be fixed “with a wave of a magic wand”. Pearce said he looked forward to hearing from the farmers and pointed to an inquiry already underway into land clearing at Rushy Lagoon. The FPA, in a statement, said it was “aware of concerns” raised by some landowners about its investigation and enforcement activities. Chief Forest Practices Officer Anne Chuter said the authority had a “responsibility to enforce the law” but was “committed to listening, learning and continually improving how we engage with the community”. She acknowledged many landowners were “doing their best to understand and comply with what can sometimes be complex requirements”. Chuter said the independent public regulator had commissioned an independent review of its investigation processes. “The review will examine whether these processes and our decision-making are appropriate, proportionate, transparent and consistent with community expectations,” Chuter said. “Independence is critical to the credibility of this work, so the review will be conducted at arm’s length from both the FPA and the regulated community, while still providing […]

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The majority of the Federal Greens party room has decided to fall into line with their NSW counterparts and allow a plan to use carbon credits to support the creation of the Great Koala National Park planned for northern NSW. Source: Timberbiz The verdict means the Federal Government’s Improved Native Forest Management carbon method will survive a disallowance motion scheduled for September 15 that had been put forward by the Nationals and backed by the forestry industry. A vote on Thursday saw the motion fail 34 to 27 votes. The INFM Improved Native Forest Management method gives state governments the option to support carbon sequestration alongside existing timber production and recreational uses, creating new opportunities for regional communities while delivering emissions reduction and environmental and biodiversity benefits. The measures will enable the Clean Energy Regulator to give effect to the New South Wales Government’s commitment to restrict the sale of Australian Carbon Credit Units (ACCUs) generated within the Great National Koala Park to a specified class of entities. This will apply only to projects under the INFM method and only where a state government chooses to opt into those requirements. In addition, the Assistant Minister for Climate Change and Energy Josh Wilson has written to the Emissions Reduction Assurance Committee (ERAC) seeking advice on variations to the INFM method, including: increasing the amount of forest that must be protected against established harvesting baselines before projects can receive any carbon credits, rising to 30 per cent for projects registered from 1 July 2030; and clarifying the definitions of plantation forest and native forest within the method.   The ACCU Scheme is an important part of Australia’s pathway to net zero emissions, helping drive emissions reductions while creating opportunities for landholders, First Nations peoples, regional communities and businesses.

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The trends we have been seeing in log export markets over the last six months have been dominated by stability and price improvements over time. This has continued in August with China improving by NZ$1 – NZ$3 per m3 at the wharf gate and India remaining steady at prices slightly ahead of China. I acknowledge none of this suggests it is time to dig out the dancing shoes or pop the top off a bottle of champers, but the great news story is stability. China selling prices improved to US$127 A grade shorts basis for most sellers for August. Total inventory across the eastern seaboard is at 2.47mill m3, a drop of 50,000 m3 from June. As at early August, port offtake has been running at 57 – 58,000 m3 per day. These are very good numbers for this time of year, heralding well for continuing improvement with manufacturing output numbers usually better during the cooler Autumn period. The wood use numbers and trends in China are even better considering the Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) which fell to 48.5 in July compared to 50.4 in June. The China economy grew 4.3% YOY, the slowest it has been in three years. When the national productivity indices have been worsening, wood use has been improving. This is “encouraging news indeed”. NZ supply across our breakbulk log exports has been at a lower ebb but this mostly relates to Gisborne port. The number of days available for vessels to load has been significantly impacted by severe swells. This has not allowed vessels to berth to start loading or has meant they have had to cease loading. Meanwhile, our domestic sawmills continue to be shining beacons on the sea of tranquillity.  I hear Canterbury mills are the brightest beacons of the lot. Demand is strong and prices are stable to firm. Some out of the ordinary log grade orders are also indicative of more vibrant usage. Long may that continue! It was fantastic to see the NZ PM open the new Cross Laminated Timber (CLT) plant near Rotorua recently with some glowing words about the forestry sector now poised to enable the regular building of multi-story high quality and high strength buildings. The prospect of milling more logs in NZ is highly supported by the forestry sector. Research and innovation are the foundation stones of a dynamic change toward engineered wood products, whilst displacing the environmental nasties like steel and concrete. Whilst some leaders have spoken ambitiously about an increase in sawmills, the one outstanding feature of that opportunity is it will not be in standard dimension lumber and will need to include the likes of CLT. Last month I covered a little on the India market with a promise of more. Surrounding Kandla, as the one port to discharge NZ logs currently, there are about 2,500 sawmills. But an India sawmill is a little different to NZ. An India sawmill is typically 2 band saws. The first is horizontal, used to break the log down into flitches. The second is a vertical used to produce timber from the flitches. A sawmill will generally be 6 – 7 people, with the operation being highly manual. There are no electronics and the sawdust extraction systems typically include a wide mouth shovel. This description of an India sawmill is replicated many thousands of times over in China with the only difference being the break down saw is more typically vertical rather than horizontal. Worker pay rates in India and China are a fraction of NZ and the cost of doing business dynamically less. With minor niche market exceptions, there is no way a Kiwi sawmill can sell standard dimension lumber in China or India at anything other than as a loss-making fall down grade. Sea freight rates for NZ Log shipments have been like Donald Trump on a really good day.  Unpredictable, changeable for no reason, with scant regard for actions and consequences. Indeed, shipping cost are the largest reason why forest owners are not enjoying a better return at present. The good news here is once the November Primaries sort the Red one out, after six months of fixing a complete mess, oil supply and demand will hopefully be all back to a closer normal. As always, please remember the thoroughly important message. ‘It remains fundamentally important, the only way forward for climate, country and the planet, is to get out there and plant more trees!’ Allan Laurie, Managing Director, Laurie Forestry.      

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