New Zealand sawmillers wanting to retain a place in the market for their structural framing timber need to have testing and verification procedures in position by the end of 2006. Failure to do so will mean their products will no longer meet the requirements of the Building Code. Substantial investment is involved and it seems that many are leaving it until the last minute.
Like most farm foresters I have enthusiastically experimented with various ‘alternative species’ over the years (eucalypts have done well even on my harsh sand dunes) but never has the time seemed more right to establish a commercially driven programme as a viable alternative to the ‘Monterey weed’ than now.
New Zealand sawmillers wanting to retain a place in the market for their structural framing timber need to have testing and verification procedures in position by the end of 2006. Failure to do so will mean their products will no longer meet the requirements of the Building Code. Substantial investment is involved and it seems that many are leaving it until the last minute.
Despite negative headlines focusing on job losses in the New Zealand forest industries, Department of Statistics figures show the picture is not all gloom, even though digging into the department’s web site certainly brings home the truth of the old phrase “lies, damn lies an statistics.”
Timber and wood products from illegal or unsustainably managed sources are entering Australia and New Zealand in increasing volumes. A recent report estimated that around 10% of Australia’s wood products imports in 2003-04 were of illegal or suspect origin. The domestic industries and environmental groups are demanding tough, urgent measures to stem the flow but the wheels of the respective governments are turning slowly.
The development of what was praised as a “sophisticated analysis system” allowing logs to be delivered on time and to customers’ specifications, has won Forests NSW (FNSW) the New South Wales Premier’s Public Sector Gold Award.
A depressed New Zealand industry, flat domestic demand and static export orders plus cavalier forest management by some owners have driven some Kiwi contractors across the Tasman to try their luck in the blue gum operations of Western Australia. There they have found a different set of challenges.
For furniture manufacturers in Vietnam, New Zealand pine is the preferred species not least because of its wide acceptance and its built-in badge of sustainability in international markets. And, in most cases, the substantial Vietnamese industry has been founded on the conversion of low-cost, industrial grade wood that New Zealand and Australian furniture manufacturers would reject.
The New Zealand forest industry has talked of the need for generic marketing campaigns for years but has had neither the resources nor the pan-industry cooperation needed to get such initiatives past the proposal stage. Now, with the help of a NZ$8 million government funding package, the industry is set to benefit from several market development programmes.
