JULY 2012 Issue 4, Vol. 21 • P: (03) 9888 4834 • F: (03) 9888 4840 • E: lmartin@forestsandtimber.com.au • www.timberbiz.com.au
Shining gums cast dark shadow on industry future C
T hinned, prunned E. nitens.
ERTAINLY, WHAT seems most certain for Tasmania’s forestry industry is uncertainty. Growing uncertainty surrounding the Eucalyptus nitens project has given rise to a myriad of conflicting opinions. Such views are often processed, cut down, pulped and spat out. But none should be discounted too soon. A leading forestry and timber scientist has warned that the Tasmanian industry needs a major overhaul to save it from collapse. Tasmania’s forestry industry is becoming increasingly reliant on Eucalyptus nitens (Shining gum) plantations as Government kowtows to the wishes of environmentalists. But Dr Russell Washusen, Honorary Principle Fellow at the University of Melbourne and former CSIRO scientist working for the CRC for Forestry, said the existing mills scattered across the island won’t be able to accommodate rapid changes in the industry unless action is taken soon. “Either the mills won’t be financially viable or the growing won’t be financially viable if they have to process the wood without any existing modifications,” he said. “With the current agreements they have with the Government, eventually there will be no logging at all and if they are forced to use plantation logs they will most likely be forced to close.” Dr Washusen said the mills will need to increase their throughput to survive. The current throughput of Tasmania’s 43 mills range from 100
to 40,000 cubic metres per year, according to figures provided by the Forest Industries Association of Tasmania. But Dr Washusen said that throughput range will need to be boosted by as much as tenfold to achieve cost efficiency. The costs of such works will present challenges. Dr Washusen said of all the mills across the island only one could undergo a feasible transformation to accommodate the Eucalyptus nitens. He said such a project would cost about $1.5 million. Dr Washusen estimates the cost of building suitable new mills from scratch would be about $13 million to more than $60-70 million. Dr Washusen also believes the geographical spread of the mills will need to be considered before the Eucalyptus nitens are harvested en mass. “There needs to be some more careful planning. “At the moment the resource is too scattered for a large central mill. “There needs to some sort of rationalisation on that basis. “You need to look at the log supply then you need to look at the technology and match that technology to the log supply. “The Tasmanian industry is in a position where by 2020 it may be forced into taking a substantial supply of logs from plantations. “There’s been more and more native forests set aside in reserves to be replaced by plantations. “There is a real question mark about where they will deliver the logs,” he said. It’s expected that 30,000 cubic metres of plantation logs will be
Log harvesting increase The Volume of logs harvested in Australia increased by 3.6% in 2010–11, the first increase in three years taking the total value of logs harvested in 2010-11 to over $1.8 billion. According to Australian forest and wood products statistics released by the Australian Bureau of Agricultural and Resource Economics and Sciences (ABARES), the growth was driven by logs harvested from plantation forests, while the volume of native broadleaved harvest declined by 4.0%. The volume of logs harvested from both broadleaved plantation and coniferous plantations remained strong in 2010–11. Broadleaved plantation harvest increased by 12% over the year to over five million cubic metres, with growth particularly strong in Victoria, Western Australia and South Australia.
While the plantation area increased only marginally during 2010–11, Australia is beginning to reap some of the benefits from the broadleaved plantations that have been established since the 1990s. This positive story masks difficulty in other parts of the forest sector. Reduced harvest from the native forest industry, ongoing weakness in Australia’s housing sector and international economic uncertainty contributed to lower imports and exports. “As a sign of weakness in both domestic and international demand, the value of imports for the September and December quarters 2011 was down 5.7% relative to the same period in 2010, while the value of forest product exports was down 8.5% over the same period,” said Paul Morris, executive director ABARES.
harvested in Tasmania in 2015 and by 2020 that figure is likely to increase to 150,000 cubic metres. “Forestry Tasmania is looking at all options from sawn wood, peeled and sliced veneer and composite products. It’s really in the planning stage at the moment,” Dr Washusen said.
Shining hope in dark woods Forest Industries Association of Tasmania Chief Executive Terry Edwards said the big picture’s not as grim as Dr Washusen’s findings suggest. “This view is strongly disputed by the peak forest industry body in Tasmania who disagree with the pessimistic forecast provided by Dr Washusen. “The current negotiation processes for the Tasmanian industry are likely to result in the
Dr. Russel Washusen.
vast bulk of the industry’s resource needs being met from native forests with plantations only coming on stream in 25 to 30 years time. “We strongly believe that the plantation timber that eventually will be provided to sawmills as a resource will not be the unsuitable continued on page 4.
5th Annual
INDUSTRY DEVELOPMENT CONFERENCE
Forest, Wood, Paper & Timber Products Industry
Save the Date!
30 & 31October, 2012
The 5th Annual Industry Development Conference, presented by ForestWorks with First Super, will be held in Canberra on 30 and 31October, 2012. This year’s conference will consider the opportunities and challenges for manufacturing timber, wood and paper products in Australia’s advanced and multi-speed economy. Further information please email: cday@forestworks.com.au
PRESENTED BY