Export planning criticised

Press, 20 July 1977, Page 21

Export planning criticised

Lack of planning by successive governments has been blamed for New Zealand’s failure to realise fully potential export earnings from timber products.

Mr J. A. Gibson, the newly elected president of the Structural Engineered Timber Manufacturer’s Association, said that shortsighted administration had cost New Zealand millions of dollars in lost export income.

He said that New Zealand could earn many times the present income for timber products by concentrating on manufactured goods rather than raw materials.

In spite of economic conditions, however, Mr Gibson predicted “tremendous expansion” for the manufactured timber industry.

He advocates the increased use of wood for industrial building. “Steel is so high in energy content that it takes almost 10 times as much power to produce compared with a given weight of structural engineered timber.

“At the same time, timber is a renewable natural resource, whereas most of the steel used for industrial building is imported.”