Last timber deal for negotiation

Press, 26 February 1977, Page 4

Last timber deal for negotiation

A party of six Japanese and a Korean will arrive in Christchurch today to negotiate the terms of the final six months of a contract to buy Canterbury’s storm and fire-damaged timber.

The total deal could be worth S2OM in export earnings for New Zealand, according to Mr P. J. Hom. a senior forest ranger in the Marketing Division of the Forest Service. Shipments began in November, 1975. of storm-dam-aged timber after a contract for two years was signed between New Zealand and Japanese interests. The terms of the contract are that the price and volume of exports be reviewed even' six months. The Forest Service owns half of the damaged timber and is negotiating for itself and the private interests, the

largest of which is the Seliwyn Plantation Board. Mr Hom said he expected the present negotiations to be I the last and that all salvage- ( able timber should be rei moved by the end of September. ! The trees were damaged by ;! storms in 1975 and by a fire ! at Hanmer Forest last year. I The wind-thrown and firedamaged timber had to be ■(cleared from the forests before it rotted. More than 50 j shiploads of logs have left (Lyttelton and Timaru since ■ the contract was signed, but '; Mr Hom said that the Japanese vessel Bona at present in

Lyttelton would probably be the last log ship at the port. The remaining shipments would all be from Timaru. The visitors will inspect the fire-damaged Corsican pine logs at Hanmer Springs on Sunday, then they will visit Timaru, before negotiating with New Zealand interests. The Japanese and Korean companies buying the logs have been using them mainly for industrial items such as pallets and packaging, but some of the sawn timber has been used for housing. The timber is surplus to the needs of local manufacturers.