Changing silvicultural practices in response to investor and market demand - A Nelson perspective

Authors: Peter Wilks
Publication: New Zealand Journal of Forestry, Volume N.Z.J.For. 2012, Issue N.Z.J.For. 57(3) 2012, pp 12-16, Nov 2012
Publisher: New Zealand Institute of Forestry

---

Abstract: Background The Nelson region has a mature forest industry with the first large-scale exotic forests established in the 1920s at Golden Downs forest by the NZ Forest Service. The region has developed a good mix of wood processing plants, including one of New Zealand’s largest sawmills at Eves Valley. This is a world scale LVL and MDF facility owned by Nelson Pine Industries, and New Zealand’s largest post and pole processing plant owned by Goldpine at Tapawera. The current annual harvest is around 1.3 million cubic metres of which 1.1 million cubic metres are from the owners of larger forests. Approximately 400,000 cubic metres of logs are exported from Port Nelson, or 30 per cent of the total harvest. Log availability is projected to be flat until 2020, constraining the ability of processors to build additional capacity and providing an underpinning of log price in the region especially for the higher quality unpruned log.

---