Rise In Timber Use Cuts Exports

Press, Volume CVI, Issue 31124, 29 July 1966, Page 3

Rise In Timber Use Cuts Exports

(N.Z. Press Association) WELLINGTON, July 28. After reaching a peak figure of £ll.B million for the calender year 1964, exports of forest products fell slightly to £11.5 million in 1965, states the annual report of the Director-General o f Forests, tabled in Parliament today. Imports showed a small increase from £7.4 million to £7.6 million.

The high level of industrial activity in the country affected the trade in forest products, the report said. By absorbing greater quantities of paper, pulp and sawn timber, the home market cut into the exportable surplus of these products and also drew on more supplies from overseas. Exports of sawn timber fell from 38.8 to 37 million board feet. Sharply increased consumption of paper, mainly for packaging, affected the export of pulp, which fell by 12,000 tons to 54,000 tons. The only increase in the Individual items of exports was for the log trade, which rose from 12.6 to 15.8 million cubic feet and reached £2 million in value. This apparently contradictory trend came partly from a temporary surplus of some forest material over the capacity of industry to use it, said the report. Imports of sawn timber, veneer and paper, other than newsprint, also rose slightly, while newsprint was at the lowest figure since the war years. Long-Term Prospects Long-term prospects for New Zealand to improve and diversify its economy by exporting manufactured forest products to Australia should be excellent, the DirectorGeneral of Forests, Mr A. L. Poole, predicted in his annual report. He warned that in the short term, and until existing tariffs were phased out under the Australia-New Zealand ■ Free Trade Agreement, prospects of increasing exports were limited. “Even so. New Zealand should soon be able to send more exotic sawn timber to the Sydney martlet, which traditionally imports very large quantities from the Pacific coast of North America,” Mr Poole said. New Zealand’s share of this market was only about 15 per

cent. “Even a modest increase in this percentage would represent a substantial gain in overseas exports and would give a fillip to some local industries.” Although controls previously imposed on imports of Australian hardwood timbers had been relaxed there had not been any marked increase in imports. New Zealand’s forest products exports to Australia amounted to £N.Z.8.9 million in 1965. Mr Poole noted that decontrol of prices on timber, plywood and veneers would be beneficial to the industry. There would be a better range of price differentials for timber grades and more flexibility in adjusting these according to market conditions, he suggested. This would bring about a greater cost consciousness throughout the industry. Already, Mr Poole said, this was apparent in the costing and accounting manuals being produced. Eyrewell Salvage Response to the Eyrewell Forest disaster two years ago when gales flattened timber

■ demonstrated the productivity which could result from co- i operation between the Gov- j ernment, industry and labour ] when faced with a herculean ■ task and an inflexible deadline, according to Mr Poole’s ■ report. By March this year, salvage of the completely flattened | areas of the forest was vir- ( tually completed. ( The volume of sales from i fallen trees totalled 23.1 mil- t lion cubic feet—of which 14.9 t million cu. ft. were absorbed < in the Christchurch and South Canterbury markets, 2.3 mil- ( lion cu. ft. by the Conical j Hill Sawmill in Southland t conservancy, and 5.9 million cu. ft. in exports to Japan, j A result had been the ac- e celerated modernisation of i many aspects of wood hand- c ling. v He said two major conclu- s sions drawn from the operation were the strategic value i of a large forest on easily 1 accessible land close to the c main centres, and the reduced v costs possible with high rates t of production at all stages, s The future of the forest was d reconsidered carefully be- t cause of the wind and the low r

productivity of the stony soil, but the balance was tipped for retention because of the lack of suitable alternate sites, he said. Venison Insignificant The £500,000 in overseas funds earned by the venison export industry was insignificant compared with the other values threatened by these animals, states the report of the Director-General of Forests. There was also no place for exclusive shooting rights with New Zealand’s noxious animal problems. “All experience shows that New Zealand indigenous forests cannot tolerate deer in more than very low numbers: certainly much lower than would be profitable for venison recovery,” the report said. “If deer are to be reduced in the future to satisfactory levels by private and commercial hunters the recovery of venison from the high country on a large commercial scale must be a transient industry, which will inevitably become uneconomic as animal numbers decline.”