The 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.
READ MORELast September harvesting contractor Luke Eder relocated from the West Coast to Christchurch. At that time he had a feller/buncher that was suited to the West Coast conditions and high production harvesting.
READ MOREThere has been a general hiatus in news regarding the review of the ETS since our last issue of Wood Matters in which we covered the (then) recently announced amendment Bill.
READ MOREBreaking news (received Friday 19 June 2009)… Legislation to amend parts of the NZ Emissions Trading Scheme (NZ ETS) relating to forestry has been introduced and is expected to pass into law by 30 June 2009 - they all relate to pre-1990 forest land.
READ MOREDuring the week commencing 8th June, I joined 32 other Kiwis in Seoul for the Korea New Zealand Business Round Table. Organised by the NZ International Business Forum www.nzibf.co.nz and the Korea International Trade Association www.kita.org this event had the objective of engaging with senior Korean business leaders in support of the Free Trade negotiations that were taking place in the same week in Seoul.
READ MORESince 1997 PF Olsen in Northland has been involved in establishing, managing and harvesting Acacia mearnsii (black wattle) and Acacia dealbata (silver wattle) on behalf of a Japanese-owned NZ-based company, NZ Plantation Forest Company Ltd.
READ MOREThe domestic market is steady in its somewhat fragile state. Supply and demand for logs is more or less in balance at relatively low volumes as mills continue to adjust production to avoid large increases in inventory of finished product. The recent rises in the NZ$ will be further ill-affecting viability.
READ MOREMethyl bromide (MB) is a gas used by many countries, including New Zealand, for the phytosanitary treatment of export logs. MB is colourless, odourless and highly toxic to insects (but also animals if in high concentrations) and is a very effective fumigant. However, it is also an ozone depleting gas which has led to it being banned internationally for all but quarantine applications.
READ MORECold and wet conditions didn't deter large numbers of people attending the NZ National Agricultural Fieldays at Mystery Creek in mid-June near Hamilton. PF Olsen exhibited a stand in the Premier Feature (main) Pavilion.
READ MOREFor those that don't know, PF Olsen produces around 2.0 million of primarily GF Plus Radiata pine tree stocks at its tree nursery at Waiuku (South Auckland) every year. The tree stocks are grown in containers which differentiates them from the more common bare-rooted stock.
READ MOREWe had some very positive feedback on our Kaharoa kokako piece featured in Wood Matter Issue 1 - Kokako Programme Achieves Milestone. This project seems to have captured the imagination and passion of a number of readers, some of whom are interested in replicating the model.
READ MOREThe Select Committee has been sitting each Monday and hearing many submissions on what different sector groups and agencies would like to see in New Zealand's domestic climate change policies.
READ MOREThe Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry has advised that due to the Select Committee Review process and review of submissions on the draft Forestry Allocation Plan, the following key dates could be affected.
READ MOREThere has been very little change in market conditions since last month.
READ MOREAt the start of 2009 PF Olsen warned all their contractors supplying engineering, harvesting and trucking services that harvesting activity could be very subdued in the coming year.
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