Friday Offcuts – 18 August 2023
Click to Subscribe - It's FREE! This week, with just a couple of weeks until New Zealand's biggest carbon forestry event, Carbon Forestry 2023, our lead story looks at how the carbon forestry market is attracting interest in Australia. The government is implementing policy changes and providing financial grants that’s starting now to attract interest. On the other side of the Tasman, New Zealand’s decision to revisit rules for forestry projects in the ETS has caused major angst amongst foresters and investors alike. With the uncertainty, came a tanking in the carbon market, a significant fall in NZU prices and a drying up, almost overnight, of investment. It’s not a rush, but right now, it appears that opportunities in carbon markets in Australia, is starting to generate attention from investors.For land owners, foresters, investors and regulators, please note our in-person seats for Carbon Forestry 2023 on 29- 30 August are now SOLD OUT. To cater for the demand, virtual registrations to allow you to join the event online are still available at clicking here. Note, the conference programme also includes a pre- conference workshop hosted by Te Uru Rākau (see website for a detailed programme). It’s going to be another full house. Beef + Lamb NZ has released another commissioned report decrying whole-farm sales to ‘forestry interests’. However, it points out though that farmers, particularly hill country farmers, increasingly are questioning the business case behind staying in traditional farming and instead, are looking, to enter into arrangements such as forest leases, or carrying out in-farm conversions, rather than selling their whole farm for forestry. It’s making economic sense and it stacks up environmentally as they look to offset their livestock emissions. The full report can be read here. More this week around heavy transport developments. In Australia, the first vehicle hydrogen refuelling station , has been installed for heavy trucks at Port Kembla, NSW. It’s going to be able to fuel up to 10 trucks per day. The truck fleet of the industrial gas company, Coregas, is collectively traveling around 6 million kilometres every year and their plan is to start switching their fleet from diesel to zero-emissions hydrogen fuel cell powered trucks this year. Finally, at this year’s Wood Transport & Logistics 2023 event, we heard from Robotic Research Autonomous Industries, a global leader in self-driving technology, on trials already underway on autonomous or platooning trucks for the Canadian forestry industry. As part of the project, RRAI has been looking to demonstrate fault-tolerant, vehicle-agnostic autonomy (enables unmanned vehicle navigation), convoy platooning, single- vehicle autonomous operations and operating on rugged off-highway terrain and resource roads. This week we've included an update from FPInnovations, who’ve been working alongside RRAI on this project on progress on accelerating the adoption of off- highway, automated vehicle technology for forest operations.
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Australian carbon forestry attracting interest
The Carbon forestry market is attracting interest in Australia as its government implements policy changes and provides financial grants, but there is uncertainty in New Zealand amid its decision to redesign rules for forestry projects in the country's emissions trading scheme, sources told S&P Global Commodity Insights. This comes as the Australian government has been taking some measures, such as revoking water-related regulations that placed additional barriers on the registration of plantation-based carbon projects in high-rainfall locations, to encourage the entry of plantation projects in the Australian Carbon Credit Units scheme. The government also allocated A$73.76 million in June to help establish new long-rotation plantation forests in Australia. According to an Australian plantation-based carbon project developer, the current government is more supportive of the plantation methodology as it expects increased tree planting to benefit Australia's 2030 and 2050 targets. New Zealand and Australia both allow plantation forestry projects to earn carbon credits by either planting new forests or changing harvesting patterns for existing plantations. NZ’s policy uncertainty Meanwhile, the growing carbon forestry sector in New Zealand has run into policy uncertainty. The New Zealand government in June opened a consultation to redesign the ETS to reduce reliance on offsets, in addition to framing a new policy for the registration of exotic forests, which account for the majority of carbon forestry projects. This followed the cabinet's decision in December to implement weaker price settings for ETS auctions against the advice of its national climate body, which recommended a steep increase. "The decisions made by cabinet and proposals for changes to ETS rules by officials have destroyed a market which was starting to work," said James Treadwell, president of the New Zealand Institute of Forestry. The uncertainty around policy led to a steep fall in NZU prices, which tumbled to a multiyear low of NZ$35/mtCO2e on July 5. "There is definitely that feel in the market that capital investment is currently being impacted in New Zealand due to the uncertainty," said Amy Smith, team leader for land use and ETS at Forest360, a forestry consultant. "Investment has dried up [in New Zealand] or even reversed in the form of capital flight, and yes Australia is looking far more attractive," said Treadwell. More >> Source: spglobal Enhancing traditional growth & yield forecasts
A team of researchers has developed a prototype system that combines remote sensing data and process-based modelling with the traditional method of empirical modelling. The system will help forest managers improve planning and forecasting systems for the optimal maintenance and development of their forest growth and yield. The team has also developed a series of recommendations for industry to enable individual forestry companies to adopt and fully operationalise this new hybrid approach to modelling within the next five years. “Australian plantation forest managers face ongoing challenges around maintaining and developing their forest growth and yield planning and forecasting systems,” research leader Dr Philip Smethurst said. Dr Smethurst is a soil and water scientist, and plant nutritionist at CSIRO Land and Water. Remote sensing and process-based modelling There are many opportunities (and complexities) associated with new data sources for the prediction of current and future attributes of plantation resources. This data, which will guide forest management practices, can be sourced using the likes of satellite and airborne or ground-based sensors, as well as process-based modelling. Process-based modelling in this context refers to resource forecast modelling that includes the specific mathematical representation of ecosystem processes that lead to wood production, e.g. the use of light, water and nitrogen. Traditional empirical modelling that relies on simple statistically-based correlations tends to lose reliability where forecasts are required to consider future conditions not yet felt. While the underlying physiological relationships between CO2, temperature and rainfall in the plant might remain the same, predictions resulting from unexperienced conditions can be quite uncertain when using these traditional models. As climate variables change, so too must growth and model predictions. Process-based modelling has the advantage of relying on specific representations of biophysical processes that are maintained while new conditions are experienced. It offers a more reliable method of yield prediction under a changing climate. “Taking full advantages of new opportunities such as process-based modelling and remote sensing technologies often requires specialist skills not always available within forest companies,” Dr Smethurst said. “As a result, many companies rely on a combination of legacy technologies and systems, alongside various modern additions, limiting the potential of their capabilities.” The research In 2020, the two-year FWPA-supported project Next Generation Resource Assessment and Forecasting for Australian Plantation Forestry began to help address these concerns. Note: As part of this year’s ForestTECH 2023 series, Dr Philip Smethurst together with Barrie May will be running a pre-conference workshop for Australian foresters attending the Melbourne conference on the morning of Tuesday 21 November. The workshop is titled: ProFert and APSIM tools for optimising fertiliser use and profitability in plantations. Details on the ForestTECH 2023 workshop programmes can be found here Access the final report by clicking here More >> Source: FWPA 
First Australian hydrogen refuelling for heavy trucks
Industrial gas company Coregas has installed a hydrogen refuelling station for heavy trucks in Port Kembla, NSW to fuel up to 10 trucks per day.
The company says it will be the first heavy vehicle hydrogen refuelling station in Australia, and is operational now for the one fuel cell truck currently operating in the area. The station is on the Bluescope Steel corner of the port and is available for Coregas’ future fuel cell vehicles to fill up and any company which signs up to be a partner. The AU$2 million refuelling station was partly funded with a AU$500,000 grant from the New South Wales government. “Locating H2Station alongside Coregas’ existing hydrogen production plant and transport hub for bulk hydrogen in Port Kembla created operational and cost efficiencies,” Coregas executive general manager Alan Watkins said in a statement. The H2Station will allow hydrogen trucks to access the majority of the Illawarra-Shoalhaven region and reach metropolitan Sydney.” Part of the goal is to use the company’s own gas to fuel its truck fleet, which collectively travels 6 million kilometres each year, Watkins says. The company will start to switch its fleet from diesel to Hyzon Motors trucks this year, for which it has an order in for two. Grey hydrogen The hydrogen in the station is currently ‘grey’, meaning it’s made from fossil gases, and greened-up using biomethane offsets, when these become available. Grey hydrogen can reduce truck and bus emissions by 15 per cent to 33 per cent compared to diesel, according to a white paper by the International Council on Clean Transportation this year. The company says that from the second half of 2023, bio-methane will be captured from wastewater treatment plants, landfill, and agriculture to produce green hydrogen which will be used in the station. Gas from the existing Coregas plant is compressed up to 500bar, enabling supply into the 350bar fuel cells in a 15-20-minute time frame. More Source: thedriven  Pacific Rim hardwood chip trade decline forecastMost of the world’s wood chip trade is that of hardwood chips in the Pacific Rim. In 2022, the global wood chip trade accounted for about 42 million bdmt, of which about two-thirds were hardwood chips destined for pulpmills in China and Japan.While Japan is the world’s largest importer of softwood chips, most international trade has occurred on the European continent, where pulpmills in Northern and Central Europe are the principal consumers. Global softwood trade reached an all-time high of almost eight million bdmt in 2018 but has since trended downward to just over six million bdmt in 2022. The most significant changes in 2022 from earlier years were record-high sales to China (now the world’s second-largest softwood chip importer) and a plunge in imports to Finland y-o-y following the country’s implementation of a trade ban after Russia invaded Ukraine. Finland’s total import in 2022 was 360,000 bdmt, down from 1.2 million bdmt annually in 2020 and 2021. Hardwood chip trade in the Pacific Rim reached a record high of 29 million bdmt in 2022, following an unprecedented 15-year period with only one occasion when traded volumes fell y-o-y. In just ten years, China has increased imports three-fold to almost 18 million bdmt, while shipments to Japan, the second largest importer, have remained practically unchanged at ten million bdmt annually, as reported by Wood Resources International. Three other countries in the Pacific Rim imported hardwood chips in 2022, namely South Korea (0.6 mln bdmt), Taiwan (0.6 mln bdmt), and Indonesia (0.4 mln bdmt). During the first four months of 2023, hardwood chip sales to Asian buyers declined substantially (over 11%), with China reducing purchasing by 23% y-o-y (see chart). In contrast, Japanese pulpmills had a strong first quarter in 2023, with the largest chip import volumes in four years. The country has increased chip imports in the past few years as hardwood pulp production has increased. Anticipated weaker global pulp markets ahead in 2023 will likely result in a decline in Pacific Rim hardwood chip trade by 10-20% this year compared to 2022, with most of the reduction occurring in shipments to China.
Source: Wood Resources International 11 million pine seedlings planted by FCNSW
Forestry Corporation has almost completed a ground-breaking replanting program that has seen more than 11-million seedlings planted in the state’s pine forests this winter. Almost three years on from the Black Summer bushfires and the recovery effort in softwood plantations continues. Forestry Corporation’s accelerated planting programs over the past three years have seen extensive replantings in state forests near Tumut, Bombala, Bathurst, Walcha and Grafton. In the Grafton Management Area since the 2019/20 bushfires, Silviculture Manager Ivan Gorman said more than four million pine seedlings have been replanted in fire-affected pine forests. “Approximately 25 people have been involved in planting about a million seedlings across almost 900 hectares of land here at Grafton over a six-week period this winter,” Mr Gorman said. “We have replanted approximately 4000 hectares of the area that was impacted by the bushfires in 2020 and a total of four-million trees have been replanted in Grafton over the past four planting seasons. “We are getting excellent results from recent plantings. It has been a bumper couple of years in terms of tree survival and seedling growth in wetter than average conditions,” he said. “As this season shows we are tracking well ahead of schedule in replanting bushfire-affected plantations,” he said. Forestry Corporation’s hardwood division has also replanted 1.2 million seedlings over the past financial year across 1087-hectares of plantation forest. Source: Forestry Corporation of NSW 2023-2024 Scholarship recipients announced
Timber Queensland is pleased to announce the recipients of the 2023-24 Growth Scholarship Awards Program. Timber Queensland’s Strategic Relations Manager Clarissa Brandt said entries increased by 50% from the inaugural 2022-2023 program and the calibre of entries was impressive. “It’s an amazing opportunity to receive one of these Awards, and it was definitely a difficult task for our hardworking judging committees,” said Clarissa Brandt. “Applicants are early to mid-career professionals and skilled workers who have given thought about their future career paths and developed learning project ideas that will benefit their individual growth and contribute to the development of Queensland’s forest and timber industry,” she said. “The recipients represent a variety of sectors within our industry supply chain forestry, harvesting, processing and building. Based on the experience of the inaugural award recipients, they will gain valuable skills, knowledge and connections as they implement their learning projects.” The recipients of the 2023 – 2024 Awards are: $10,000 Kennedy’s Timber Award Katie Fowden Learning Project “Canadian Exemplar First Nations Forestry Partnerships” $5000 AKD Award John Said Learning Project “Mechanisation of the Pruning Regime” $5000 HQPlantations Award Nicola Morris Learning Project “Designing a Healthy Home – Researching Building Biology & Passivhaus Principles” $2500 DTM Timber Award Daniel Schweitzer Learning Project “Certificate IV in Work Health & Safety” Recipient of the Kennedy’s Timber Award Katie Fowden, Strategic Relations Manager at Hyne Timber, said “the aim of my study tour is to examine Canadian processes to establish First Nations sustainable forestry partnerships, which are significantly more advanced than Australia’s. I will investigate how long Canada took to establish these partnerships, the financial modelling, lessons learned and where such partnerships failed and why,” said Katie Fowden. AKD Award recipient John Said will travel to Germany to explore various new options for mechanized pruning that are being implemented internationally.“My learning project will allow me to gauge the effectiveness of this technology and determine if it is economically viable to implement as a works program. I will gain experience working with engineers, forest growers and plywood and veneer manufactures,” said John Said. “Pruning is vital to the Araucaria cunninghammii estate, there is great value in clear knot free timber. Specifically Araucaria cunninghammii, but great value can also be added to the sawn timber of exotic plantation pine species of Australia. By working alongside industry developments in autonomous and mechanical pruning I will be on the forefront of best practice for our forest. These learnings can be applied across Australia forest industry allowing me to further my network and contacts,” he said. Clarissa Brandt says Timber Queensland appreciates the time and effort put into the applications. “We have encouraged all candidates to take consolation from the wise words of one applicant who has said although they were unsuccessful there was reward in taking the time in considering their career and where they want to be in five years. Taking time out of our busy work and personal lives to find direction is to be valued and will undoubtedly provide rewards in some other way,’ she said. Reports from recipients of the 2022-2023 Growth Scholarship Program are available here Source: Timber Queensland Forest Owners say planting increase is positiveThe Forest Owners Association says an expansion of new forest planting in New Zealand in 2021, highlighted in a new report, is positive news for carbon capture ambitions.Beef + Lamb NZ has released a commissioned report by Orme & Associates. Beef + Lamb complains that it is ‘alarming’ that the report shows whole-farm sales to ‘forestry interests’ amounted to 63,000 hectares in the winter of 2021. But FOA President, Grant Dodson, says the Orme Report reveals a long delayed and significantly more modest expansion of plantation forestry within that total, which is well overdue, and vital, if New Zealand is to reach its carbon reduction targets. Grant Dodson says it’s important to realise the national plantation forestry estate is still 70,000 hectares smaller than it was twenty years ago. “Land use is aways changing. We lost a lot of land in the first decade of this century to dairy expansion. Dairy took over a lot of sheep and beef properties as well. So, I can’t understand why Beef + Lamb is so dog in a manger about trees. It’s just claimed forestry displaced 400,000 sheep in 2021-2022.” “Yet the average yearly fall in sheep flock numbers in the four decades since the early 1980s, has been nearly three times that, including during periods when forestry was shrinking. And presently beef exports are at record volumes. So, the beef exporters are hardly being strangled by forest expansion either.” Grant Dodson says the demands made by Beef + Lamb to the government to restrict forest expansion are also a violation of the right of farmers to make their own land use choices. More >> Source: forest Owners Association Successful testing for truck platooning project
FPInnovations has announced the completion of the baseline phase for its truck platooning tests. The truck platooning project aims to accelerate the adoption of the off-highway, automated vehicle technology to support the sustainable development of Northern communities and to address the critical shortage of truck drivers. The chronic lack of drivers severely compromises many forestry and mining operations in Northern Québec. In collaboration with RRAI (Robotic Research Autonomous Industries), a global leader in self-driving technology, FPInnovations is working to adapt this technology to Canada's particular conditions, such as seasonal changes and driving on off-pavement roads without wireless coverage, particularly for resource roads in continental and polar climates. The baseline testing program, which represented the first step in achieving this goal, involved exposing RRAI’s AutoDrive autonomous software system to a variety of road and environmental conditions typically encountered in Québec forest and mining operations. Analysis and reporting of the captured summer and winter test conditions, which allowed for identifying specific areas requiring technological improvements, were completed in March 2023. These improvements could be applied in subsequent development phases of the platooning technology. “With this investment in FPInnovations, we can utilize new, automated vehicle technologies to help strengthen and support the sustainable development of our northern communities. The truck-platooning project will make it much safer for trucks to travel from harvesting sites to sawmills and will help revitalize many sustainable forestry operations in Northern Québec” said The Honourable Jonathan Wilkinson, Minister of Natural Resources. Source: FPInnovations --(2022)_s73dwfm7bqgc.jpg)
Tasmania's first timber high-rise building takes shape
A multi-storey construction is turning heads in Launceston's CBD — the building is made almost entirely from timber. The 28-metre-high structure is going up fast, in fact, a lot faster than ones made from traditional building products like steel and concrete. "The speed of construction has been the biggest eye-opener for us," Fairbrother's build manager Marcus Perkins said. It is one of only a handful of engineered mass timber buildings under construction across Australia. The seven-level design is distinct in the landscape with five of the levels built with huge, engineered timber beams that stand out on the skyline. "We are getting requests for tours every week, from architects, clients, industry groups, builders, engineers, everyone," Mr Perkins said. The seventh level has an engineered timber floor and ceiling made from hardwood mass timber produced in Tasmania. The man behind the hardwood-engineered product, Cusp Building Solutions' Michael Lee, is proud of his work. "We've taken material that was destined for the wood chip pile that was going to China to make paper, and built it into the timber for the built environment in a sustainable and usable manner that Fairbrother and others can use," Mr Lee said. Fast-growing eucalyptus nitens, planted in the 1990s to feed now defunct pulp mills, are now going into the Tasmanian-engineered timber products. The rest is softwood-engineered mass timber shipped from interstate and overseas. Four of the building's floors are European spruce-engineered timber — the huge beams, and columns throughout are also made from spruce. More >> Photo: The St Lukes building in Launceston is Tasmania's first timber high rise. Fairbrother) Source: ABC Rural 
Timber Unlimited launched in NZ
The use of timber to reduce climate-changing emissions from the local construction industry became easier and more accessible with the launch of Timber Unlimited to builders, designers, architects, engineers, quantity surveyors and others involved in the building sector throughout New Zealand. Formerly the Timber Design Centre, the new name Timber Unlimited reflects a commitment to being the leader in timber design and innovation and providing information to make it easy to choose and use more timber in construction. Using funding through the government’s Forestry and Wood Processing Industry Transformation Plan (ITP), Timber Unlimited is a practical initiative offering research, technical expertise, tools, guidance, and information to promote the use of wood in building and infrastructure projects across the nation’s commercial, industrial, multi-story and public sectors. Timber Unlimited Director Robert Finch says Timber Unlimited will also work to dispel many myths about using timber in New Zealand. “Part of creating timberunlimited.co.nz is to build belief in the possibilities of timber. We have created a program called Timber Decoded – this will help dispel common myths and preconceptions about timber.” Iconic New Zealand Architecture firm Warren and Mahoney is a strong wood advocate using timber extensively in its award-winning buildings. Principal Simon Hardy says the company believes mass timber not only also creates beautiful, cost-effective architecture, it has huge potential for reducing carbon emitted in building construction. “As designers, and as an industry, we can and must embrace innovation and sustainable practice by building the expertise, technology, and knowledge to drive change. Warren and Mahoney have formed an Advanced Timber Unit to help support the advancement of low carbon mass timber design, as we know the potential is huge.” To assure its attraction and accessibility to the industry, Timber Unlimited was developed following careful research and listening to the needs of sector professionals and builders, Mr Finch said. “This gave us insight and information how Timber Unlimited can positively influence perceptions about timber and building material choices. Importantly, it highlighted the perceived barriers to using wood, specifically in commercial construction. This information has proven critical for Timber Unlimited to dispel myths and concerns around wood and to increase creativity, confidence and, ultimately, a surge in its use throughout our industry,” he explained. About Timber Unlimited: We are a timber industry-neutral, non-profit service established to help the design and construction industry build a better future for New Zealand with timber. Our particular focus is to encourage and facilitate the use of timber in the commercial, industrial, public, and multi-story sectors. We are underpinned by a Consortium Agreement between our founding members: Wood Processors and Manufacturer’s Association (WPMA); New Zealand Timber Design Society, BRANZ and Scion. Source: Timber Unlimited Careful native forest harvesting key to carbon capture
Joel Fitzgibbon, Chair of the Australian Forest Products Association, opinion piece – originally published in the Australian Financial Review 15/8/23
There is no rational reason to shut down native forestry in Australia – and a big bonus in carbon sequestration. Global demand for wood products is forecast to dramatically outpace supply as urban populations grow and renewable wood and innovative wood products play a greater role in our decarbonisation and circular bioeconomy efforts. As this becomes increasingly apparent, many more Australians will learn to ignore the deliberately misleading campaigns of activists’ intent on closing down our sustainable native forest industries. Australia’s wood and timber imports are now valued at more than AU$5 billion a year. About 25 per cent of the timber we require for housing construction is imported. Sourcing that product from other countries is going to become harder as global demand continues to outstrip supply. And, of course, much of our imported product is likely to come from jurisdictions that do not have Australia’s environmental standards and world’s-best industry practice. Having called time on local native harvesting, Victoria is now importing native product from Tasmania, Brazil, Indonesia and Malaysia. Unfortunately, Western Australia has also joined in. The situation in Victoria is particularly bizarre. It will result in more numerous and more severe bushfires and more koala and Leadbeater’s possum deaths. It will also reduce both biodiversity and our stock of stored carbon. Trees sequester less carbon as they mature. When a tree is harvested, the carbon in the wood is stored forever in the built environment. The harvested tree is replaced by a young tree, which absorbs more carbon as it grows. The activists love selectively to quote the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. Well, here’s a quote from the IPCC’s fourth assessment: ‘‘A sustainable forest management strategy aimed at maintaining or increasing forest carbon stocks, while producing an annual sustained yield of timber, fibre or energy from the forest, will generate the largest sustained mitigation benefit’’. Speaking after his review of Australian Carbon Credit Units, former chief scientist Professor Ian Chubb weighed in: ‘‘The only pathway known to science that has the immediate capacity to remove greenhouse gases, particularly CO2, from the atmosphere at scale is photosynthesis’’. That’s why we must continue to sustainably manage our native estate while also striving to expand our plantation estate. Our ability to further increase native forest carbon stocks has been limited by the activists themselves. But if we can attract more investment, we could expand our plantation estate. Read more Source: Australian Forest Products Association .jpg) Input into emissions benefits of harvested wood products
Te Uru Rākau – New Zealand Forest Service is exploring policy options to recognise the delayed emissions benefit of long-lived harvested wood products. Stakeholders can contribute to the project at one of two workshops planned for early September. The project progresses one of the actions in Te Ara Whakahou – Ahumahi Ngahere: The Forestry and Wood Processing Industry Transformation Plan (ITP), launched in November 2022. Action 9.3 of the ITP calls for an investigation into options to recognise the delayed emissions from long-lived harvested wood products like engineered construction lumber, plywood, and panels. Te Uru Rākau – New Zealand Forest Service has commenced a project to engage a wide range of stakeholders to develop regulatory and non-regulatory options to encourage greater domestic production and use of long-lived harvested wood products. An analysis of these options will then be used to inform the development of potential government policies in the future. MartinJenkins will be facilitating two online workshops where stakeholders may share their ideas and their feedback to potential options. If you would like to attend one of the workshops, please register online using the links provided below. Pre-registration is required. • Workshop 1: Friday 1 September 9:30am to 11:30am; pre-register here> • Workshop 2: Tuesday 5 September 2:00pm to 4:00pm; pre-register here If you have questions about the workshops or the project overall, please email Steve Struthers at MartinJenkins ( Steve.Struthers@martinjenkins.co.nz). Source: Te Uru Rākau – New Zealand Forest Service Study reveals growth potential for timber industry
A new study has revealed that upgrading Kinleith Mill’s energy infrastructure and building a new large-scale sawmill to supply timber and bespoke engineered mass-timber products could provide hundreds of jobs and boost the economy, Forestry Minister, Peeni Henare said this week. The Wood Beca study – a project between the Government and Oji Fibre Solutions – showed that upgrading the mill could create 200 jobs per year and generate upwards of NZ$566 million in additional GDP per annum and reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 65,000 tonnes of CO2- equivalent per annum. The Kinleith Mill is a key strategic asset for Aotearoa New Zealand, and one of its largest industrial sites. Minister Henare says the site requires some energy infrastructure upgrades to remain competitive. Minister Henare says the site requires some energy infrastructure upgrades to remain competitive. “This presented an opportunity for Government to partner with OjiFS to investigate how a redevelopment could deliver on key Government objectives through the creation of a bio-hub. Earlier this year I announced a NZ$57 million fund would enable the Government to partner with wood processors to co-invest in wood processing capacity to create products like sawn structural timber and engineered wood. This could help make upgrading the Kinleith Mill a reality if it can raise the funds needed.” “Depending on the staging and configuration of the possible options, the construction phase could contribute NZ$2.5 billion of additional GDP over a three-year period. I’m excited by the potential of this project to help build a high-value, high-wage and low-emissions economy in line with the vision set with the sector in the Forestry and Wood Processing Industry Transformation Plan,” said Mr Henare. In early 2022, TUR released the Wood Fibre Futures Project which included business cases on sawmills, solid fuel, bio-crude and liquid biofuel. TUR is partnering with private companies and government agencies to explore the feasibility of additional wood processing, bioenergy and bio-products. Oji Fibre Solutions is a world-leader in pulp, paper and packaging products, and the Kinleith Mill employs more than 500 people in the South Waikato. Source: insidegovernment Jobs
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