Forest Products Industry

Thunderstorms in the north-eastern United States are forecast to clear air choked with smoke from wildfires just in time for the World Cup final, as President Donald Trump threatened Canada with new tariffs to pay for the pollution. Source: The Sydney Morning Herald Nearly 1000 fires are burning across Canada, and winds have carried the smoke south of the US border, prompting air quality alerts and health warnings in parts of the United States and complaints from Trump and other US politicians about its northern neighbour. However, fires are also raging in the US with the National Interagency Fire Centre reporting 73 large blazes across 12 states, from Minnesota in the Midwest to Oregon and Washington in the Pacific Northwest. The Canadian federal Natural Resources Department said there were 69 new fires across the country, raising the total to 955. In Ontario, Canada’s most populous province, nearly 200 wildfires have already scorched 1.7 million hectares of forest, while 10 communities have been evacuated, and 300 people have been rescued from campsites in 40 operations. There are also fires in Nova Scotia, while in British Columbia thousands of lightning strikes increased the number of active fires from 20 in the middle of last week to about 100 now. On Saturday morning (AEST) Trump threatened Canada with additional tariffs to pay for the “incalculable cost” of dealing with wildfire smoke pollution, which he said was becoming a yearly occurrence and costing the United States billions of dollars. “We are holding Canada responsible for the fact that they are not properly maintaining their Forests, and Brush therein, and the United States is being unnecessarily invaded by filthy, polluted, and unhealthy air, the quality of which is dangerous, and totally unacceptable!” Trump wrote in a Truth Social post. Canada is home to some of the world’s largest forests, and major fires have become a regular occurrence in summer. Climate experts say rising temperatures have led to drier timber and increased fire risk, while this year’s strong El Nino is sending summer temperatures skyrocketing across the northern hemisphere. Last week Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney addressed the topic of criticism by US officials, saying that climate change was the responsibility of everyone, including the US. After Trump’s post, Ontario Premier Doug Ford said US criticism of Canadian efforts to stop the fires was “absolutely unacceptable.” If Trump wanted Canada to clear its forests, he should drop US tariffs on softwood lumber, Ford said. “We’re trying to get through this,” Ford said. If the situation were reversed and the US were facing wildfires, “we’re going to be down there to support our neighbours”, he added. Trump then reposted Tim Sheehy, the junior senator from Montana, saying that the “send help” message was “extremely dishonest framing” by the Canadians. Trump’s repost came with an endorsement that Sheehy was “GREAT. A Winner!!!” . Sheehy, who said he was a former waterbomber pilot who used to lead an aerial firefighting fleet, said: “The Canadian government routinely blocks US firefighting companies from attacking fires in Canada, while aggressively sending their government-subsidised aircraft to the US to earn commercial rates from the US government. It’s big business for them and they run it like a Chinese protectionist racket.” At MetLife Stadium in New Jersey, site of the World Cup final at 3pm Sunday (5am Monday AEST), which Trump is expected to attend, the sky was the same thick, soupy grey it has been for days, even after a drenching thunderstorm prompted warnings of flash flooding and forced the Spanish national team to suspend its last outdoor training session. Tyler Roys, a senior meteorologist at AccuWeather, said a storm front the day before the match will largely move the smoke out of the Northeast before the final between Spain and Argentina. “There could be some lingering smoke that would make things hazy, but very faint,” Roys said. “In terms of the thickest smoke, the smoke that has really been eye-popping and leads to poor air quality, that is not expected across New York City or much of the Northeast.” WFLA-TV Chief Meteorologist and Climate Specialist Jeff Berardelli, in Tampa, Florida, said the storm front would “sweep the atmosphere clean,” leaving only a thin smoke that World Cup spectators may still smell in the air. Tyler Roys, a senior meteorologist at AccuWeather, said a storm front the day before the match will largely move the smoke out of the Northeast before the final between Spain and Argentina. “There could be some lingering smoke that would make things hazy, but very faint,” Roys said. “In terms of the thickest smoke, the smoke that has really been eye-popping and leads to poor air quality, that is not expected across New York City or much of the Northeast.” WFLA-TV Chief Meteorologist and Climate Specialist Jeff Berardelli, in Tampa, Florida, said the storm front would “sweep the atmosphere clean,” leaving only a thin smoke that World Cup spectators may still smell in the air.

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HQPlantations will begin using road trains within the Tuan–Toolara Plantation Forest from June 2026 to improve log transport efficiency and reduce the number of haulage vehicles traveling on local public roads. Source: Timberbiz The longer and heavier road trains will only operate on plantation roads, transporting larger loads of logs to the Hyne sawmill at Tuan near Maryborough. The benefits of using road trains include: fewer haulage vehicles on public roads reduced fuel use and emissions per tonne overall improved environmental performance higher log volume per trip to Hyne Timber Mill. HQPlantations is reminding all motorists, recreational users and visitors to the Tuan–Toolara Plantation Forest to remain vigilant, drive to conditions and share the road safely.

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The ban on SMSFs building new homes undermines the governments’ objective of building 1.2 million homes and improving housing affordability according to Tim Reardon, HIA’s Chief Economist. Source: Timberbiz The Housing Industry Association (HIA) has called on Treasury to publicly assess the impact of the Government’s new Self-Managed Superannuation Fund (SMSF) borrowing restrictions on housing supply, following the passage of the legislation through Parliament. “The Government has made increasing housing supply its central housing policy objective. “The question now is whether this SMSF legislation advances that objective or makes it more difficult to achieve. The legislation was passed without a cost/benefit analysis or any publicly available data on how significant the reduction in new home supply would be, as a result of this change. HIA has today released the results of a survey of Australia’s largest detached home builders, representing more than 40 per cent of national detached housing construction. The survey found: builders currently have 3,613 signed contracts with purchasers using SMSF Limited Recourse Borrowing Arrangements that have not yet commenced construction, builders estimate 2,415 of those contracts, or 66.9%, are likely to be cancelled once the legislation comes into effect, more than 70% reported investor enquiries have already declined since the Federal Budget, almost 90% expect detached housing commencements to decline during 2026 and 2027.   Mr Reardon said the survey provided the first direct evidence from builders of how the legislation is expected to affect housing supply. “These are not hypothetical future investments,” he said. “They are signed contracts to build homes that builders had expected to construct in the next year. Mr Reardon said the findings reinforce an important distinction that is often overlooked in housing policy. “SMSFs do not live in homes. They do not create demand for housing. They do provide capital that finances the construction of new housing. “Restricting one source of investment does not reduce the number of Australians needing somewhere to live.” HIA estimates the combined impact of contract cancellations and weaker future sales is likely to reduce detached housing commencements by between 3.5 and 5 per cent, while reducing GST and stamp duty revenue to state governments by more than $450 million. Mr Reardon said these estimates relate only to detached housing. “The survey does not include financing of apartment construction, where investor participation is typically higher and pre-sales are often required before projects can obtain construction finance,” Mr Reardon said. “The total impact on housing supply may therefore be greater than these estimates suggest. “Treasury had appropriately modelled the housing supply impacts of the changes to negative gearing and capital gains tax announced in the Federal Budget. “It is now appropriate that the same analytical framework be applied to the SMSF borrowing restrictions. “Treasury should publish a housing supply impact assessment and cost-benefit analysis consistent with the analysis undertaken for the changes to negative gearing and capital gains tax. “That assessment should quantify the expected impacts on detached housing, apartment construction, housing affordability and government revenue. “The issue extends well beyond superannuation policy. This is ultimately about how housing policy is evaluated.” “If increasing housing supply remains the Government’s objective, then every major housing policy should be assessed against one simple question. “Will it increase or reduce the future supply of homes? “The next step is to transparently measure its outcomes and release that evidence prior to the next election.”  

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New Zealand’s forestry sector has confirmed it will align its workplace vocational training with the new Engineering and Manufacturing Private Training Establishment (PTE), operating under Competenz. Source: Timberbiz The decision follows extensive consultation with employers, contractors and training providers, led by the New Zealand Forest Owners Association (NZFOA) and Forest Industry Contractors Association (FICA) joint Forestry Training Committee (FTC). The NZFOA and FICA have endorsed the move, saying it provides the strongest platform to maintain consistent, industry-led training across silviculture, harvesting, engineering and forest management while improving long-term capability. “This is about ensuring forestry continues to have a training system designed by industry, for industry,” said Forestry Training Committee Chair, Kevin Ihaka. “Our employers invest heavily in training because they know a skilled workforce is essential for safe, productive and sustainable forestry operations. This arrangement gives the sector greater influence over how that training evolves in future.” Forestry is New Zealand’s fourth-largest primary export earner, directly employing more than 8500 people. Over 90% of the workforce participates in formal training, with the vast majority of learning taking place on the job. Following consultation with more than 200 industry participants, employers, contractors and training providers, the FTC developed a clear set of requirements for any future training provider. These included strong industry input into decision-making, transparency around investment in forestry training, continuity of existing capability and minimal disruption for learners and employers. “In assessing potential training providers against these requirements, the proposed primary industry Private Training Establishment (PTE) was initially preferred, but after engaging with the Competenz Board and leadership team, it became clear that Competenz’s Engineering and Manufacturing PTE would be better suited to forestry’s training needs,” Mr Ihaka said. Under the new arrangement, forestry will have: A dedicated forestry team with its own cost centre Retention of forestry programmes, systems, staff capability and intellectual property Continued access to the national network of forestry trainers and assessors Forestry participation in ownership through a shareholder arrangement A formal forestry Board seat, with candidates assessed against a skills matrix A Head of Forestry role within the senior leadership team Structured industry input through the FTC, which will act as the industry’s advisory group to both the Forestry Team and the PTE Board Transparency over financial performance and investment decisions.   “Industry told us it wanted stronger influence, greater accountability and continuity for learners and employers. We believe this model delivers on those priorities while creating opportunities to modernise training delivery over time,” Mr Ihaka said. Higher-level forestry qualifications, including diplomas, university degrees and other tertiary programmes, will continue to be delivered by existing universities, polytechnics, wānanga and other PTEs. The FTC will now work with Competenz, the Food and Fibre Industry Skills Board and industry stakeholders to support implementation. An online briefing for industry will be held in early August to outline the transition process and next steps.

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As Australians are urged to remember the upcoming National Census this August, researchers from The University of Melbourne’s School of Agriculture, Food, and Ecosystem Sciences have just finished conducting one that took extensive work in the Yarra Ranges. Source: Star Mail A monitoring plot has been established in the eucalypt forest near McMahons Creek that is more detailed than any other previous plot in Australia, fitting the standard for the Forest Global Observatory (ForestGEO)’s global network of plots. Author of the study Ella Hellessey said the work was super important because these forests are the most common forest type in Victoria and are also found in Tasmania and New South Wales. “This forest in particular contains a forest type that we refer to in Victoria as a low-elevation mixed-species eucalyptus…historically, from a research perspective, they’ve been a little bit overlooked and understudied compared to say, the much more spatially limited but endangered mountain ash forests,” she said. “By setting up this large long-term plot within one of these low-elevation mixed-species forests, the findings that we get from this research will support forest management and conservation and planning for a much larger, major portion of Victoria’s forested areas, as well as across temperate south-east Australia as well. “Conventionally, forest inventories historically only included trees that are 10 centimetres and above in diameter, whereas we are including one centimetre and above, so we have substantially more trees included.” As a result of surveying far smaller plants, 51,324 individual trees from 46 species were recorded in the census, while only about 9000 would have been recorded at the 10-centimetre threshold. Ms Hellessey said, for reference, one centimetre is about the width of a pinky finger, so the census included a lot of shrubs as well as larger trees. “The large size of it all is also really important as again, traditionally we do forest inventories over smaller areas,” she said. “I think a lot of the time they’re like 0.1 of a hectare or half a hectare, whereas we have a 16-hectare, so we’re seeing a much larger portion of the landscape. “As a result of that, we’ve picked up higher species diversity than we would have expected … One of the interesting things is that we found about 13 species of eucalypts and traditionally, we probably would have only expected two to maybe seven of them.” The site of the plot at Starvation Creek stood out to Ms Hellessey and the researchers for many of the same reasons it does as many visitors to the forests of the Yarra Ranges: it was within a two-hour drive from Melbourne, is within a special land management protection zone and is in a ‘beautiful little part of the world’. Ms Hellessey said the long-term aspect of the study is super important too due to climate change and it would be great to see more plots established in Australia. “With everything that’s impacting our forests, seeing how these forests are changing over time is super important when it comes to thinking about how we manage our forests and do conservation,” she said. “As far as I’m aware, I don’t think there is any plans for more, but that would be amazing, I think one of the major factors limiting that though is that it is quite expensive and very involved, our plot is 16 hectares and for ForestGEO standards, that’s on the smaller end. “I know that ForestGEO are pretty keen to try and get an Australian tropical plot…Australia is very interesting and a bit unique in how our forests operate, because of our evolution and geographic and geological history.”

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A new video has been released by Private Forests Tasmania and the Tasmanian Forestry Hub to highlight the opportunities and challenges for Tasmanian landowners participating or looking to participate in carbon forestry projects. Source: Timberbiz The video, available on the Private Forests Tasmania YouTube channel and the Tasmanian Forestry Hub website, describes two reports developed by the Tasmanian Policy Exchange on behalf of the Hub. Private Forests Tasmania’s Operations Manager Jarrod Burn said the video was a great resource for Tasmanian farmers and landowners to best understand the governance and policy around undertaking a carbon forestry project. “The video developed uses simple language and graphics to help describe the positives and challenges landowners may experience when doing a carbon forestry project, Jarrod said. “It describes the outcomes of the report developed by the Tasmanian Policy Exchange which captured feedback from Tasmanian landowners who were currently managing carbon forestry projects so includes real insights others can learn from.” General Manager of the Tasmanian Forestry Hub Jamie Lawrence said the project the video was developed from provided a timely industry perspective on Tasmania’s forest carbon market. “This work aims to optimise carbon forestry projects in Tasmania and focuses on addressing barriers to Australian Carbon Credit Unit (ACCU) scheme participation. “The key takeaways from this work, as described in the video, are that while carbon credits provide an important source of additional income from approved forestry projects, the decision to invest in such projects and their ultimate viability depend largely on other factors – including the commercial return for forest products.” The video describes that the ultimate opportunity for value from carbon forestry projects is when they can incentivise plantation establishment and be undertaken with the goal to maximise benefits other than carbon alone. This work comes at an important time when Tasmanian landowners are considering how best to realise value and meet farm sustainability benefits whilst retaining profitability and future income. Watch the video now: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZUYi1-geBjk

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Australia has an opportunity to lead the way in recovering valuable building materials, according to a new research report from Living Lab Northern Rivers, Circular Timber. Source: Australian Rural & Regional News The report shows that carefully deconstructing buildings – rather than demolishing them – can save high-quality timber, reduce waste and create local jobs, and recommends national guidelines so the approach can be adopted more widely. After the 2022 floods, the NSW Government has approved offers for over 900 flood damaged homes, and currently owns more than 800 properties across the Northern Rivers through the Resilient Homes Program – part of Australia’s largest property buyback program. Led by Living Lab Northern Rivers with research delivered by the University of Technology Sydney (UTS), the Circular Timber pilot was funded by the NSW Reconstruction Authority, in response to community interest in recovering the valuable timber in these homes. At 125 and 127 Tweed Street, North Lismore, two uninhabitable homes were selectively deconstructed to recover their materials. The work recovered premium old-growth hardwoods including ironbark, cedar, tallowwood and blackbutt from the region’s Big Scrub rainforest, timber that is prized today and effectively impossible to source. Local makers – builders, furniture-makers, artists and craftspeople – then transformed the salvaged timbers into more than 50 new pieces that honour their origin while demonstrating reuse. It was a small-scale example of what could be achieved with right infrastructure and support. The pilot worked through the steps of deconstruction, material storage, product design and manufacturing, to develop the recommendations made in the report. The pilot also showed why deconstruction isn’t yet standard practice. Without national guidelines, recovery facilities or an agreed way to compare costs, it’s difficult to contract deconstruction at scale – especially within the timeframes and budgets of major recovery program. The report’s recommendations are aimed at closing that gap: Deconstruction guidelines. Australia has well-established standards for demolition, but nothing equivalent for deconstruction. Clear, practical guidelines would give councils, contractors and governments a shared way of working. Material recovery infrastructure. A facility to process, store and resell recovered materials would make deconstruction viable, and could in time grow into a regional hub for circular manufacturing and local jobs. A clear way to weigh the value of reuse. Deconstruction is often assumed to cost more than demolition, yet the report notes this has rarely been properly tested. A framework for comparing the real costs and benefits would help decision-makers see the full picture.   Australia’s construction and demolition sector is forecast to generate around 42 million tonnes of material by 2030. Current waste systems already do a good job of diverting material from landfill through recycling such as woodchipping. The pilot tested whether we could go one step further up the waste hierarchy – from recycling to reuse – which keeps more of each piece of timber whole and useful. International research cited in the report indicates careful deconstruction can save an average of 7.6 tonnes of CO?-equivalent per home, and that deconstruction programs overseas support several times more jobs than conventional demolition. “Demolition is fast, but it treats century-old hardwood the same as rubble,” said Associate Professor Berto Pandolfo, the project lead from UTS. “This pilot showed that with care, timber can be recovered intact and re-made into things people value. “What’s missing isn’t capability or community will – it’s the guidelines, infrastructure and assessment tools that would let deconstruction operate at scale.” Dan Etheridge, Engagement Director at Living Lab Northern Rivers, said: “The Northern Rivers has just lived through Australia’s largest property buyback program. That gave us a rare chance to test these ideas in real conditions, and the makers proved the concept. “The opportunity now is to build the systems so the next community facing this doesn’t have to start from scratch.” NSW Reconstruction Authority CEO, Kate Fitzgerald said: “As part of the Resilient Homes Program the NSW Reconstruction Authority has been prioritising the relocation, reuse and recycling of buyback properties wherever we can.At 125 and 127 Tweed Street, North Lismore, two uninhabitable homes were selectively deconstructed to recover their materials. The work recovered premium old-growth hardwoods including ironbark, cedar, tallowwood and blackbutt from the region’s Big Scrub rainforest, timber that is prized today and effectively impossible to source. Local makers – builders, furniture-makers, artists and craftspeople – then transformed the salvaged timbers into more than 50 new pieces that honour their origin while demonstrating reuse. It was a small-scale example of what could be achieved with right infrastructure and support. The pilot worked through the steps of deconstruction, material storage, product design and manufacturing, to develop the recommendations made in the report. The pilot also showed why deconstruction isn’t yet standard practice. Without national guidelines, recovery facilities or an agreed way to compare costs, it’s difficult to contract deconstruction at scale – especially within the timeframes and budgets of major recovery program. The report’s recommendations are aimed at closing that gap: Deconstruction guidelines. Australia has well-established standards for demolition, but nothing equivalent for deconstruction. Clear, practical guidelines would give councils, contractors and governments a shared way of working. Material recovery infrastructure. A facility to process, store and resell recovered materials would make deconstruction viable, and could in time grow into a regional hub for circular manufacturing and local jobs. A clear way to weigh the value of reuse. Deconstruction is often assumed to cost more than demolition, yet the report notes this has rarely been properly tested. A framework for comparing the real costs and benefits would help decision-makers see the full picture. Australia’s construction and demolition sector is forecast to generate around 42 million tonnes of material by 2030. Current waste systems already do a good job of diverting material from landfill through recycling such as woodchipping. The pilot tested whether we could go one step further up the waste hierarchy – from recycling to reuse – which keeps more of each piece of timber whole and useful. International research cited in the report indicates careful deconstruction can save an […]

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New spatial modelling published in Australian Forestry, the peer-reviewed journal of Forestry Australia, finds that only a small share of the private native forest estate along the New South Wales coast and tablelands can support commercial timber production. Source: Timberbiz Of the 3.6 million hectares assessed across 11,722 properties, just 0.6 million hectares, or 17%, is both available and commercially suitable. The finding raises the question of leakage as debate continues over the future of the Great Koala National Park in north east New South Wales. If private native forest cannot deliver at the same scale, where does the timber come from? The research is led by spatial modeller Masoomeh Alaibakhsh of the NSW Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development, with co-author Nick Cameron of the North East New South Wales Forestry Hub. The team weighed more than 40 spatial datasets to rank every property on how well it could support timber production. The model measured how much of each property could be harvested, how far timber would travel to a mill, how steep and rough the ground is, and the value of the species growing there. Forest that is protected, too rugged to work or too far from a mill was set aside. What remained split heavily to the north. The northern private native forestry region held 0.5 million hectares, equal to 20% of its private forest, while the southern region held 0.1 million hectares, or 9%. “Much of the existing assessed private native forest is not commercially available and suitable,” Mr Cameron said, pointing to small harvestable areas, low-value species, poor site quality and distance from mills. Timber production in the north is more likely to be viable than in the south, with more large properties within reach of more mills. Properties in the south’s lowest suitability class sit an average of 98 kilometres from the nearest mill. Even inside the workable 17%, timber values cluster in the middle, with nearly 62% of properties rated medium and only 0.2% very high. Two or more decades typically pass between light selective harvests, so much of the resource is regrowth not yet ready to cut. The modelling lands as the New South Wales Government makes permanent the closure of 176,000 hectares of state forest in the Great Koala National Park. The reserve ends timber harvesting across its extent. “Not all wood products can be produced by the plantation industry,” the research states, with Australian native timber production down nearly 70% over the past two decades. The authors note that hardwood plantations remain far from a universal substitute for a country that already faces a wood shortage. Blackbutt and spotted gum, valued for their durability and strength, supply the flooring and decking trade and the poles that carry the state’s electricity network. Private native forests were routinely harvested for sawlogs, poles and girders, sleepers and fencing timber, the paper notes. On the other side of the ledger, 83% of the assessed estate, five hectares in every six, is likely to be managed chiefly for environmental and social values rather than timber. Landholders, agencies and processors now have property-scale rankings to guide where limited harvesting effort is best directed. The authors describe that output as the first comparison of ranked results across two discrete forest regions. The study concludes that the private estate cannot meet the expectations placed on it, with just 0.6 million hectares rated commercially workable and much of that still decades from harvest. The research is at https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/00049158.2026.2694856

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