Hundreds of forestry jobs in New Zealand’s West Coast timber industry are at risk, according to stuff.co.nz.
Crown Forestry acquired West Coast forestry operations from state-owned Timberlands in 2009, but the region’s sawmilling industry is now reduced in size because of insufficient supplies of radiata pine and the ban on logging native rimu. The result is a loss-making situation for Crown.
The majority of logs are now sent out of the region for processing, something which the government believes could be solved by having one large sawmill in the area to process most logs.
The West Coast Timber Association said jobs were likely to be lost. Around 560 currently work in the sector.
