Downturn And Looming Supply Gap Will Be Felt For Decades

Can forestry get much worse? Your key trading partner has slapped a huge 27% tariff on your product to stop you competing against its own inefficient wood producers who have been crying foul over the dumping of your low-priced wood into their market. Greenpeace is on your case and spreading nasty rumours in the European market about your unsightly (ugly clearcuts) behaviour in the woods. And in response, your own government, which you support with huge tax payments, has introduced a new code of practice requiring you to submit to 40,000 audits a year by its inspectors.

There is no getting away from it: for New Zealand wood producers, the news does not get any better. In its first exclusive report for Inwood, wood market analyst Agri-Fax predicts that the effects of the industry’s worst downturn will be felt for 30 years.

Forest companies, especially those domiciled in New Zealand and Australia, are right out of favour on international share markets. And if current circumstances persist, they could remain out in the cold for sometime to come. In fact, you have to go a long way to find an analyst or fund manager who views the industry with even a modicum of enthusiasm.

Treated timber producers worried that builders are finding the revised requirements for framing timber too complicated should relax a little. They are a stroll in the park compared with the changes being phased in under the New Zealand Building Act, as Elizabeth Howarth discovered.

This is the second in a series by Victoria University of Wellington School of Architecture senior lecturer Andrew Charleson, in which he describes some of the timber buildings of Western Europe he studied during recent research leave.

Energy has always been a major issue for New Zealand’s wood processors. It is always expensive and rarely reliable, and now the carbon tax ‘knock-on’ from the Government’s Kyoto policy that will send costs soaring. In an industry already beset with problems, investment in energy efficiency looks like an impossible call. But there is some help at hand, as Elizabeth Howarth reports.

Forest industry vigilance has saved Australia from being embarrassed by possible tensions between domestic forest policy and free trade agreement talks with Malaysia.

The sign might have read: 'For sale. Several forests in prime regional locations … owner refocusing business, sold complete with contractors and crews in good working order.'