Clarky's Comment - July 2013, Is the New Zealand Forestry Industry "Different"
Every sector has some claim to its importance and uniqueness in its actual or potential contribution to our economy and lifestyle.
READ MOREEvery sector has some claim to its importance and uniqueness in its actual or potential contribution to our economy and lifestyle.
READ MORERecently PF Olsen Australia has had the opportunity to discuss with federal politicians and national forestry representative bodies about some of the key emerging issues that we see as requiring attention.
READ MOREIt is fair to say that trees and power lines are not particularly compatible. Vegetation, including tree crops, that grow too close to power lines presents a hazard to power lines that can interrupt electricity supply (for example through trees touching or falling on lines).
READ MORENo one ever said change is easy, but that doesn't mean it isn't a good thing in the end. PF Olsen Ltd and Waiariki Institute of Technology have seen their partnership evolve over the years not only in the relationships established, but also in regards to their combined focus on safety.
READ MOREIn a report released early in June, the Ministry for Primary Industries estimated that log export volumes from New Zealand would be 7 per cent higher in the year ending June 30 than the same period in 2012.
READ MOREPrices for NZUs have fluctuated up and down between the $1.75 and $2.00 mark from mid June to mid July and are currently trading at around $2.00 per NZU.
READ MOREThanks to all those people that took the time to complete and return the PF Olsen Customer Satisfaction Survey.
READ MOREThanks for the feedback from readers of Wood Matters. It's great to get your views, whether supportive or otherwise of ideas or views expressed.
READ MOREThe government is quite rightly focused on materially improving New Zealand's economic performance. Part of the Business Growth Agenda is to move export earnings from 30% to 40% of GDP by 2025. It is now widely recognised that such an ambitious target will not be achieved without material improvements in earnings from our primary, land-based industries.
READ MOREPF Olsen has recently appointed Brendan Horrell as the branch manager in Nelson.
READ MOREStrong export and domestic demand has underpinned harvesting programmes as we head into more difficult winter harvesting conditions in New Zealand.
READ MOREPrices for NZUs have fluctuated between the $1.65 and $2.00 mark in May/ early June and are currently trading at around $1.80 per NZU. The cheaper imported ERUs, which can be used for surrender purposes until 2015, have ascended sharply from a low of $0.13 in May to $0.25 per ERU this week.
READ MOREOn 10th June 2013 we had the opportunity to profile the FFR programme to improve the productivity and safety of harvesting on steep terrain to a gathering of politicians, officials and business people at the Beehive.
READ MOREMany forest managers and contractors have had a strong focus on accident reduction over the past 15 years with considerable progress made on reducing serious injuries relative to production.
READ MOREAustralia's Federal Government this week announced funding of $500,000 to assist in the development of an Australian forest management certification standard for Forest Stewardship Council certification.
READ MOREOver the last two years FFR has funded research into the use of remote sensing technology for forest operations monitoring.
READ MOREPF Olsen has owned a containerised forest nursery producing Radiata pine tree stocks, located at Waiuku in the Franklin District, since 1996. During the last five years PF Olsen has invested a significant amount of capital into the nursery to improve tree stock quality, increase total production and lower production costs
READ MOREContinued strong demand from China and the strengthening New Zealand and USA housing markets are the main positive features affecting the log market in New Zealand at present. Countering this is the strengthening NZ$ and weak demand from Australia and Europe.
READ MORENZUs have hovered around the $2 mark in April, currently around $1.90. ERUs dropped from $0.15 to $0.13 on the back of weakening European carbon prices. Demand for NZUs is weak with emitters concentrating on the purchase of cheap UN offsets for 2013 and 2014.
READ MOREHuman kind has used wood for fuel for as long as fire was discovered. Even in recent times, there have been estimates that of all the wood used in the world, 50% is used as fuel, often in small, low-tech communities to stay warm and cook food.
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