SOFTWOOD DEMAND

Otago Daily Times, Issue 26479, 5 June 1947, Page 8

SOFTWOOD DEMAND

SUPPLY FROM , DOMINION

AUSTRALIA’S REQUIREMENTS

P.A. WELLINGTON, June 4. The Australian Government and timber users in the Commonwealth are looking more and more to New Zealand for the supply of softwoods though, due to the extreme demand'in New Zealand, only limited quantities are available. The general feeling in Australia is that if New Zealand is to continue to expect reasonable supplies of Australian hardwoods for essential needs, New Zealand, in turn, must be prepared to make available to Australia an equivalent quantity of soft woods. V This is the impression gained by Mr A. J. Seed, secretary of the New Zealand Sawmillers’ Federation, who has just returned from Australia with Mr N. E. Baigent, president of the Federation. He represented the federation at the Eastern States (Australia) Timber Industry Stabilisation Conference. This is an annual fixture attended by representatives of the sawmilling industry, officers of the respective State forestry'authorities, and members of the staff of .the Commission of Scientific and Industrial Research. . Eyes on New Zealand Attention was being focussed on New Zealand as a source of softwoods, said Mr Seed, because of the difficulty of supply in all States, and. the extraordinarily high cost of Douglas fir and hemlock from the Pacific Coast of Canada and the United States and of Baltic timbers from .Sweden and Norway. Huge quantities of timber from these sources were imported into Australia in pre-war years. “Australian users are quite prepared to accept and are, in, fact, clamouring, for increased quantities of pinus radiata (common pine) which is now becoming available in forested areas of the Dominion in vastly increased quantities,” Mr Seed said! “ The only limitation, that the sawmillers federation at present foresees on any expansion of production in pinus radiata is tlje question of manpower, machinery and equipment These problem* have not yet been lessened in, any degree from the war-time situation. From eight to 10 new milling undertakings, all on a fairly large scale, are projected in afforested areas, but the question of! when they may be able to get into production is governed entirely by the, factor of obtaining new equipment from overseas, either from, the United Kingdom or the United States.” : Good Supply of Hardwoods As a result of several visits to variour forests under the jurisdiction of the New South Wales Forestry Commission and of similar visits made in Victoria last year, the New Zealand delegates to the conference had returned fully convinced that under proper forestry management and sustained yield cutting, the existing hardwood forests of Australia are capable of meeting the whole of the needs for hardwoods both in the Commonwealth and New Zealand at present.