Hardwood plantations exceeds native forest harvestsFriday 14 Jun 2013 For the first time in Australia in 2011-12, the volume of logs harvested from hardwood plantations has exceeded the volume harvested from native hardwood forests.In releasing Australian forest and wood products statistics, Executive Director of the Australian Bureau of Agricultural and Resource Economics and Sciences (ABARES), Paul Morris, said plantation logs (both hardwood and softwood) now comprise 81 per cent of Australia's total log harvest, compared to 56 per cent in 2000-01. "The volume of logs harvested from the hardwood plantation estate has grown at an exceptional rate since 2000-01, increasing from 975 000 cubic metres to 5.2 million cubic metres in 2011-12," Mr Morris said. "This growth was historically driven by strong overseas demand for Australian woodchips." Hardwood plantations continue to be grown predominantly for pulpwood in Australia, with 98 per cent of logs harvested from these forests used for paper manufacturing and woodchip exports in 2011-12. Overall, the supply of logs harvested from both hardwood and softwood plantations in Australia was 19.2 million cubic metres in 2011-12, compared to 4.5 million cubic metres harvested from native forests. "Although exports of most wood products fell in 2011-12, woodchips remained Australia's largest wood product export by value, but at the same time recorded the largest decline in export value," Mr Morris said. The report, Australian forest and wood products statistics is available on the ABARES website. |
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