Australia’s forest products sector is poised to become a global player in the plantation pine industry, according to Wood Markets Monthly.
International forest industry companies including Weyerhaeuser, Carter Holt Harvey, World Timber Fund and a number of Japanese pulp and paper companies already have a presence in the country, seeking out Australian plantation pine which is considered superior to other southern hemisphere plantation pines and is cheaper compared with other softwood log-growing regions around the world.
Potential investors have also spotted that Australia’s larger sawmills are labour intensive and do not incorporate log scanning/computer optimisation technology and recognise that capital investment in small-log sawing technology could have a major impact on sawmill productivity, lumber recovery and unit costs.
Wood Markets Monthly says more international players will be attracted to build cost-efficient, state-of-the-art sawmills to drive down processing costs, increase profit margins and expand export programmes, thus making Australia a force with which to be reckoned.