PF Olsen is collaborating with Opus International Consultants Limited and Andy Woolhouse (of EMTS Limited) to improve management of forest engineering operations, through on-site workshops (or Dirtshops). The on-site workshops will be attended by PF Olsen operations managers and forest engineering contractors and are aimed at minimising environmental risk associated with planning and execution of earthmoving and harvesting operations.
READ MOREA common source of ire for forest owners is that despite forestry providing society with a range of eco–services (such as soil and water protection, carbon sequestration, species diversity and enhanced amenity/recreation), it is sometimes portrayed as an environmental villain.
READ MORELast week MAF held a one-day workshop for PF Olsen staff to update us on the recent changes to the Emissions Trading Scheme (EMS) and to provide guidance on how to set up accounts in the New Zealand Emission Unit Register (NZEUR) and join the ETS.
READ MOREStability describes the current log market (unusually). Whilst there are fluctuations in various economic drivers, the net effect is little change in price and demand. The NZX Agrifax Combined Log Price Index which measures returns from the whole forest remained unchanged in October at $74/tonne.
READ MOREWelcome to another edition of Wood Matters. With the hurly burly of other business within PF Olsen, this edition is slimmer than usual. However, we have our usual insights from our CEO, Peter Clark, who puts a strong case that innovation is the only enduring competitive advantage.
READ MOREPF Olsen is fully committed to research, technology and innovation. Its rapid deployment is a source of increased human productivity, safety and competitive advantage.
READ MOREWith Maori party support, the Government this week outlined planned changes to the Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS).
READ MOREThanks to those that have made the effort to provide feedback on Wood Matters articles.
READ MOREAn important announcement in early September was Russia planning to delay the imposition of its final and steepest export log tariff increase until 2011. The threefold tariff increase was originally planned to be imposed in 2009, then later deferred until 2010.
READ MOREPlantation Forests and the Environmental Benefits They Provide Should Not be Treated as a Public Good to be Nationalised.
READ MOREThe East Coast region of the north island has large areas of forest resource nearing harvesting age.
READ MOREDelays in outcomes from the current review of the NZ Emission Trading Scheme are related to the process of setting internationally-recognised new emissions reductions targets (post CP1 Kyoto). Review outcomes are now not expected until late August.
READ MOREFrom time to time, when clients are searching for the elusive answer to what is the best time to harvest, we get into some pretty detailed discussions about global trade, commodities and economic cycles. For those of you interested in such matters, we are going to venture (briefly) into this esoteric world and see what wisdom we glean to make us better decision-makers.
READ MOREPF Olsen picked up the Innovation of the Year Award at the recent Nursery and Growers Association Annual conference in Palmerston North. The award was for the design, construction and application of a new machine to top containerised Radiata pine tree-stocks growing in our nursery at Waiuku.
READ MOREThe announced closure of Prime Sawmills in Gisborne was another blow for domestic processing and particularly serious for the East Coast region which has limited processing capacity as it is. Within a week, however, there was a further announcement that the operation would continue, albeit, at a much lower level of activity.
READ MOREA European buyer has purchased approximately 520,000 forestry generated AAUs from Ernslaw One, a large NZ forestry company. (AAUs are assigned amount units - these are the units allocated to governments as part of the Kyoto Protocol) The process involved obtaining NZUs (NZ units) under the NZ Emissions Trading Scheme for carbon sequestration in post-1989 forests during 2008.
READ MOREThe New Zealand pine log availability is set to rise from the current 20 million to 30 million m³ between now and 2020. Currently we process about 13 million m³ in NZ domestic mills, and export about 7 million m³, although in the first half of 2009 exports have increased while domestic mill processing has declined.
READ MORECrown Forestry's and Maori land owners' forests in the Far North (such as Parengarenga, adjacent to 90 Mile Beach, face the "tyranny of distance" more than most forests. During the peak of the diesel price last year, the cost of transporting logs to Marsden Point rose to just under $50/tonne (a distance of 261km). This sort of cost means the forest owner is left with little in the form of net stumpage revenue.
READ MOREFor the past six years PF Olsen has been a shareholder in the research company WQI Limited. What's more, WQI has been a tenant in our office here in Rotorua over that period giving us a great opportunity to learn about and apply their leading-edge research results in our forest and harvesting management.
READ MOREThe pruned log market has started to show some strength with the rather over-used "green shoots" metaphor seeming (reluctantly) an apt description.
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