Kaingaroa Sale Likely Soon

Press, Volume CIX, Issue 32301, 20 May 1970, Page 1

Kaingaroa Sale Likely Soon

(New Zealand Press Association.)

WELLINGTON, May 19. A decision could be reached soon on the sale of 320 million cubic feet of timber from the Kaingaroa State forest.

A report frpm overseas consultants is being studied by the Forest Service and will be in the hands of the Minister of Forests (Mr MacIntyre) within a week. A decision on the huge contract, which has attracted considerable international interest, is not Mkely to be made until the matter has been considered by the Cabinet Committee on Forest Industries. This committee, chaired by the Minister of

! Industries and Commerce (Mr Shelton) will make a recommendation to the full Cabinet on which of the nine large consortiums should be awarded the contract Among companies which have tendered is the New Zealand Fletcher-Forest Pro-ducts-Tasman group. Other bidders include Japaneseowned and partly Japaneseowned combines. The export value of the timber has been estimated at up to $lO million a year for the 20-year period of the contract Among other contentious points about the contract is the port to be used to ship the products—which the Government wants to see processed as much as possible in New Zealand—to overseas buyers. Napier and Tauranga I are vying for the extra toni nages the contract could ; bring.

The overseas consultants’ report was prepared by a Finnish firm, and both Swedish and Finnish experts had a hand in the preparation of the recommendations.