Quotas raise ire of timber exporters

Press, 1 March 1989, Page 9

Quotas raise ire of timber exporters

By 1

PAM MORTON

Canterbury timber exporters are angry ithat freight quotas are forcing them out of the Australian market.

Exporters wanting to break into the market say they are unable to do so because of restrictions on the amount of timber that can be shipped out of Lyttelton. Established exporters are also facing cuts jeopardising their Australian markets.

There is only one shipping line in the South Island that freights timber to Australia. BHP Transport runs a regular container service across the Tasman, with the Iron Kirby calling into the port once a month.

One timber exporter who did not wish to be named said the problem of trying to get timber across the Tasman was escalating. “Timber appears to be low priority and is offloaded in favour of containers,” he said. When the Iron Kirby called at the port in February several units of timber were off-loaded and left on the wharf because there was not enough room for them. Quotas for the next sailing of the Iron Kirby on March 16 are being cut and several exporters say space promised to them is being further reduced. One timber exporter said his company had continued exporting through the line when the New Zealand dollar was relatively strong against the Australian currency.

“We worked for a long time to develop niche markets in Australia but our customers demand a definite delivery date,” he said.

“The present situation is making it impossible for us to guarantee when we can supply them with timber. They don’t want to hear about our shipping problems.”

He said the matter centred on the political agreement made across the Tasman Sea. “If that stretch of water were opened up to overseas shipping companies then other ships would be able to come in and we would get the service we need,” he said. “We are disadvantaged not only by the cost but by the fact that we can’t get our goods across the Tasman.”

The exporter said the present monopoly meant that the timber companies had to rely on the good will of the shipping agents otherwise they were left high and dry.

If the timber was not sent overseas then local markets would be flooded and inevitably would result in a loss of jobs.

One Christchurch timber company has landed an order for 250 cu m of raw timber to be supplied a month to a Sydney firm.

However, the company is unable to accept the order until it can guarantee delivery.

The company director who did not wish to give his name in case it jeopardised his chances of getting into the market, said the company had to be assured of prompt delivery because of the perishable nature of the

wood. “Dry timber can be offloaded but if green, sawn timber was left for a month it would perish,” he said.

Road transport to> other ports had been considered but the extra 20 per cent freighting costs would make the proposition uneconomic.

The line manager for BHP Transport in New Zealand, Mr Harry Marett, said yesterday that the favourabh? exchange rate had created an upsurge in expo rts to Australia.

Mr Marett said the i allocation of between 15 00 cu m and 2000 cu m! was adequate when the ! service was first introd iuced in July, 1987. | Timber freighting 1 requirements had . been ; met in the past. :

Mr Marett said the; exchange rate and a s mall South Island market had been the contributing factors to the increased interest in exporting. An allocation of 150<3 cu m for timber exports has now been introduced by the company.

“We are concerned, at having to introduce this allocation but we haves to have a cut-off point in order that we don’t overbook the vessel.”

Mr Marett said ithe company was introducing controls in its book! ng procedures to ensure that the ship was not overbooked.

A mixture of cargo wa s needed to make the service viable, he said.