Friday Offcuts – 4 October 2024
Click to Subscribe - It's FREE! Welcome to Friday Offcuts.This week, we highlight the start of fire season, new trade opportunities emerging, and industry innovations taking centre stage. With forecasts predicting above- average temperatures and heightened fire risks for the Australian summer, AFPA has emphasized our bushfire preparedness and commend the industry's leadership and investment in firefighting resources. As an election approaches, Timber Queensland has unveiled a strategic plan aimed at ensuring a sustainable timber supply chain and addressing the ongoing housing and construction crisis. The Hyne Group has continued to expand, with the acquisition of Perth-based Pinetec. Across the Tasman, the UAE Closer Economic Partnership Agreement is set to unlock significant opportunities for wood product exporters. Forest growers are encouraged to participate in voting for new levy rates, and Te Uru Rākau — New Zealand Forest Service is inviting landowners to join new research programs focused on carbon storage, biodiversity, and woody biomass. In technology, FWPA has launched a new tool to provide access to crucial data, insights, and forecasts. ForestTECH 2024 is offering free conference registrations for young foresters and students, and Scion’s nearly 80-year experiment continues to play a vital role in shaping building standards. Read these and more in another packed edition of Friday Offcuts. Enjoy.
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This week we have for you:
Australia is well prepared for bushfire season
With October marking the start of the bushfire season in many
Australian states, our forest industries are well prepared for
any potential threat to forestry assets, neighbouring farming areas,
nature reserves and most importantly regional communities.“The Australian Forest Products Association (AFPA) acknowledges the leadership shown by forest industry companies in investing in firefighting resources and strengthening their tactical relationships with emergency services and volunteers in local communities to combat bushfire threats” said AFPA Chief Executive Officer, Diana Hallam. While the bushfire season runs for six months from October, fire management is a year-round process and our forestry companies invest a significant amount of effort and resources into prevention and preparedness activities to ensure our staff are educated and prepared to the best of their ability to protect Australia’s forest estates”, continued Ms Hallam. Australia’s bushfire history illustrates the importance of investing in fire detection and prevention technologies and upgrading existing assets to ensure there is an additional layer of protection to safeguard and mitigate against potential disasters. Australia and our forest industries cannot afford another 2019/20 Black Summer event, after a total of 129,000 hectares of commercial plantations were burnt, causing significant impacts to long-term timber supplies in our domestic market and destroying native ecosystems and high-value habitats for flora and fauna species. “Uncontrolled bushfires not only negatively impact the livelihoods of regional towns, but also the health of the environment, particularly through the release of additional carbon emissions. It has been calculated that the 2019/20 black summer fires released a total of 900 million tonnes of carbon dioxide, equivalent to the annual emissions from worldwide air travel in one year”, said Ms Hallam. “Our forest industries represent international best practice for preparedness and prevention in combatting bushfires, and as we enter into a possibly gruelling summer, we extend our appreciation in their commitment and protection to the land, the forestry estates and neighbouring communities”, concluded Ms Hallam. The bushfire seasonal outlook indicates our forest industries in many parts of the nation could be severely impacted this summer due to recent drier than average conditions and mean temperatures possibly being above average over the summer Source: AFPA NZ/UAE trade deal - opportunities for exporters
Tariff elimination across all New Zealand wood products entering
the UAE through the new NZ/UAE trade deal is welcomed by the wood
processors and manufacturers association (WPMA).‘Our hope is that the successful conclusion of the NZ/UAE Closer Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) will lead to an increase in NZ wood products entering the UAE’, said WPMA Chief Executive, Mark Ross. ‘The UAE is in a transition period where they are favouring timber-based construction over concrete and steel, signalling a regional shift towards sustainability,’ said Ross. ‘Despite a limited number of timber buildings erected to date, UAE has experienced a threefold increase in imports of plywood and other timber products in the past year’. From a New Zealand basis we currently export around NZ$10 million in wood products to the UAE, with the main categories being sawn timber, sleepers, pulp and paper. Other wood products exported include wood for flooring, furniture and joinery. It is acknowledged that New Zealand’s share of NZ$10 million is small when compared to the total UAE wood and wood product imports of NZ$267 billion in 2023. However, even a minor percentage growth in NZ exports to the UAE through the CEPA will assist in providing encouraging signals to our domestic wood processing industry. ‘Wood provides multiple benefits to New Zealand, and it is positive to see the government backing our industry in removing unnecessary barriers and implementing new trade Agreements’ . We thank Trade Minister, Todd McClay and his officials for their speedy completion of this trade deal. Source: WPMA Timber QLD's five point plan to grow sector
The peak state body for the forest and timber industry in Queensland, has released its key policy recommendations in the lead up to the state election, to support essential timber supply chains to meet the state’s growing housing and construction needs.Timber Queensland CEO Mick Stephens said, “Our local plantation softwood and native hardwood and cypress forest sectors already make a significant contribution to the supply of timber and engineered wood products for the state’s building needs. However, Queensland’s population is bursting at the seams and will need more timber to meet future housing and construction demand including for our homes, schools, hospitals, apartments, and offices.” “The good news is that with the right policy settings and provision of resource security, the industry can invest in more forest resources and new plant and equipment, together with skilled jobs, to meet the rising demand for building materials such as timber. In addition, the industry is renewable and can help governments and the private sector to reduce their carbon footprint in the built environment through the use of wood products, which have far lower emissions than other materials such as steel and concrete.” That is why the timber industry is advocating for a five point plan that can address the investment needs of industry and the role Government can take in unlocking the potential for industry to grow and provide essential timber building materials. “For too long the industry has simply been taken for granted and this election represents an opportunity to make a significant difference in putting the industry back in the forefront of strategic economic development,” Mr Stephens said. The five key themes of the plan include: resource security for the native hardwood sector; new investment drivers for plantations and farm forestry; wood processing innovation and supply chain efficiency; workforce development and training; and indigenous forestry opportunities. “We urge all parties to recognise the multiple benefits from a strong local timber industry, which has historically been the backbone of many regional communities and the state’s housing and public infrastructure development. We are passionate and committed to working with government, stakeholders, and industry for sustained growth. We care about our industry, our people, our environment, and our future.” The Timber Queensland election policy statement can be found here. Source: Timber Queensland  NZ Forest Growers’ Levy Vote - have your say
If you own a plantation forest, small or large, you are required
to pay a levy on the volume of wood material harvested from your forest.
The Forest Growers Levy Trust (FGLT) is the custodian of this levy money, ensuring it is appropriately spent in areas such as research and development, biosecurity and promotion, for the collective benefit of levy payers and forest growers in New Zealand generally. The current levy order is due to expire on 17 November 2025 and is therefore up for renewal.
Proposed levy rate Eligible forest growers will have the opportunity to vote on whether to renew the levy for another six years at the rate proposed by the Forest Growers Levy Trust during this year’s Forest Growers Levy Vote: 1 – 31 October 2024. The current levy rate under the Harvested Wood Material Commodity Levy Order is 33 cents per tonne of harvested wood material. This raises approximately $10 million per year in levy money, depending on harvest volumes. The Forest Growers Levy Trust has spent eight months consulting with growers in the lead up to the Levy Vote, resulting in an amendment to the levy rate originally proposed (40 – 70 cents) by the Trust earlier in the year. The FGLT also sought growers’ feedback on whether the levy is meeting their needs and how they would like to see it allocated in the years to come. Learn more about the levy consultation process here. The FGLT wants to thank everyone that took the time to attend these meetings and have their say. Your contributions are vital for ensuring the levy is meeting growers’ needs and helps the FGLT understand how it can best support the sector going forward. For the upcoming Levy Vote, the FGLT propose a minimum levy rate of 33 cents per tonne of harvested wood material and a maximum levy rate of 45 cents per tonne of harvested wood material (excluding GST) for the 2026 – 2031 levy order period. The minimum levy rate will be fixed for the first year of the new levy order (until the end of 2026). For every subsequent year, the FGLT board will fix the levy rate within the 33 to 45 cent range before the start of each levy year. Any proposed increase to the levy rate in any year will not proceed if it would be against the wishes of those likely together to pay more than half of the total levy collected in the year the proposed increase will apply. More >> Source & image credit: NZFOA
 ForestTECH 2024 places for young graduates & students
Another opportunity (free stuff) is being offered with a free conference registration to the NZ leg of this year’s forest technology series – up to five of them in fact – for the annual ForestTECH 2024 event running in Rotorua, New Zealand on 20-21 November 2024. The Forest Industry Engineering Association (FIEA) has again teamed up with the WIDE Trust, a charitable Trust formed in 2018 that supports the development and education in New Zealand’s forestry and wood industry sectors. What’s being offered? To help out younger employees, recent graduates and new entrants into the industry, this arrangement will enable up to five young employees, recent graduates or students in New Zealand to attend the major annual forest technology series, ForestTECH 2024 with all major conference expenses being paid. ForestTECH 2024 is going to appeal to all those involved in; tree crop management, automated silviculture, including mechanised planting, thinning and pruning, forest establishment, remote sensing, forest data capture and forest inventory management. Details for the November conference can be found on the event website, www.foresttech.events/ft24. Conditions: Applicants for the complimentary places have to be actively employed within the forestry or resource management industries or in a recognised training scheme, apprenticeship or course. The places are available only to those that haven’t picked up one of these complimentary conference registrations in the past and for those yet registered to attend the conference. And, to ensure the package is targeting the right person, the applicants should also be 35 years or younger. What do I do if interested? These places have always been snapped up pretty quickly. This provides an incredible opportunity for younger people within our industry to attend – and at the right price – for free. So, as we have done in the past, places will be filled on a first in-first served basis, provided the eligibility criteria have been met. So, if keen on picking up one of these complimentary available spaces this year to the NZ leg of the ForestTECH 2024 series, please make contact with gordon.thomson@fiea.org.nz.  Introducing the new FWPA Data Dashboard
Forest & Wood Products Australia (FWPA) is excited to launch the new
FWPA Data Dashboard, an essential tool designed to empower
Australia’s forest and wood products industry with access to
crucial data, insights and forecasts. This innovative platform,
available as a complimentary benefit exclusively to full levy-paying FWPA members, provides a wealth of new information aimed at
enhancing decision-making and driving business success across the
industry. “The new dashboard represents a significant upgrade, offering a more advanced platform that enhances usability and functionality.” said Erick Hansnata, Statistics and Economics Program Manager at FWPA. “With a wealth of new data series added, the new FWPA Data Dashboard is designed to empower our members and industry in their business planning and decision-making processes.” Key features of the new FWPA Data Dashboard:
“The platform is designed with future growth in mind, ensuring that we can expand its capabilities based on the evolving needs and interests of our members and the wider industry.” he said. In addition to its exclusive complimentary availability to full levy-paying members, FWPA will soon introduce a subscription feature, offering FWPA Associate members and other interested users access to the new dashboard for a reasonable annual fee. FWPA’s public data dashboard will continue to be publicly available via our website. FWPA’s commitment to enhancing industry competitiveness and sustainability through innovation, research, and reliable data remains at the core of this initiative. By equipping members with powerful data insights, the FWPA Data Dashboard ensures better decision-making, driving growth and productivity across the sector. Learn more via the FWPA Data Dashboard info page and Data Dashboard Member Login. Source & image credit: FWPA  Forest Growers Research Annual Conference - Oct 2024
The 2024 Forest Growers Research Annual Conference will be held this year in Dunedin on the 22-24 October 2024 at The Dunedin Centre.This year’s theme, Resilience Through Innovation, will provide an update on FGR’s main research programmes, showcasing the collaborative work with industry, government, and other stakeholders supporting the sector, highlighting the latest forestry innovation and technology. A great event to add to your calendar for those who work in the forestry sector. The three-day conference will incorporate a diverse range of topics and activities, including presentations from over 40 speakers, Panel Q&A sessions, and an Otago Forest field trip. The Annual Science Awards Dinner on the evening of Day 1 will provide plenty of networking and engagement opportunities throughout, with Guest Speaker Simon.
Source & image credit: Forest Growers Research  Landowner partnerships with Te Uru Rākau - NZ Forest Service
Te Uru Rākau — New Zealand Forest Service are looking for
landowners to become research partners to help progress the field-based research components of each of the forestry science programmes.
Together, this work will help us to better understand how:
Detailed information on the partnership opportunity to support each individual research programmes are available in the Expression of Interest (EOI) forms, on the MPI website. If you have further questions and/or to return your form, email: ForestryInsights@mpi.govt.nz Hyne Group expands to the west
The Hyne Group is pleased to announce the acquisition of
Pinetec, a pallet and packaging business based in Perth, Western
Australia. This is the Hyne Group’s first manufacturing
presence in the West in its 142-year history. Earlier this year,
the Hyne Group announced its expansion into pallet manufacturing
following the acquisition of Rodpak Pallets & Packaging in Melbourne
and Express Pallets & Crates in Brisbane.The Pinetec business has operated for over 30 years (15 years with the current owners) with an excellent customer base across a range of essential sectors such as mining, industrial chemicals, engineering, building products and the transport industry. The business model is very compatible with the long-term partnership approach that Hyne Group operates under. Hyne Group CEO, Jim Bindon said Pinetec will continue to operate as usual but with the benefit of being part of a global network, “This expansion of our pallet division into the West is exciting times for both the Hyne Group and Pinetec. I am also really pleased to advise that the two previous shareholders of the Pinetec business will remain involved in the Hyne Pallets division, as will all the existing staff." “One of those shareholders, Ian Smith, is the Pinetec General Manager, and I welcome his continued expertise and support in this role. With the broader support of the Hyne and James Jones Groups, Pinetec’s capability and credentials as a business partner to their many customers, will only be enhanced.” Mr Bindon said. Pinetec’s other shareholder, Dean Roderick, is the General Manager of Rodpak which has been part of the Hyne Group since May 2024, and Dean remains an integral part of the Hyne Pallets management team. Mr Roderick said the sale of his and Ian’s Pinetec business to the Hyne Group is exciting, as is already being experienced by the Rodpak business. “With Pinetec coming into the Hyne Group fold, it is no longer a stand-alone business in the West, but immediately part of a global family with the ability to leverage from that, as we have been able to do at Rodpak. “Not only does this present really good opportunities for our team members, customers and suppliers, but it further diversifies the Hyne Group geographic footprint to ensure efficiency and growth into the future.” The acquisition of Pinetec will finalise on 1 November 2024, subject to all Completion Precedents being met. More >> Source & image credit: Hyne Timber Nelson Pine Industries celebrates 40th anniversary
One of Nelson Tasman’s largest employers, Nelson Pine
Industries is celebrating its 40th anniversary this
week. The company, which employs 275 full-time staff and
contributes significantly to the region’s economy, was founded in
October 1984. Its products Golden Edge MDF® and Nelson
Pine LVL® are widely used in furniture, kitchens, residential
and commercial buildings throughout the Asia-Pacific markets but also in
the Nelson region. The company supplied LVL (laminated veneer lumber)
product to the new Nelson Airport, which has won a number of
architectural awards.Nelson Pine Industries (NPI) is also proud of its support of other major building products in the region, including the NMIT Arts and Media building, Suter Art Gallery, Nelson Tasman Hospice and Nelson School Music. In the 1960s a chipmill operated at Lower Queen St, Richmond until 1984 when Newmans Group, Odlins Ltd and Sumitomo Forestry Ltd (SFC) decided to establish a MDF factory to add more value to a wood chip commodity. Later, in 1993 Sumitomo Forestry became the sole shareholder of Nelson Pine Industries. At that time, the MDF production using continuous presses was the most advanced technology available worldwide. Nelson Pine Industries has since expanded to run three lines of MDF production and one production line for LVL and has now become the biggest wood processor in New Zealand’s South Island. Nelson Pine Industries processes one million m3 of logs each year, which represents around a quarter of the entire regional harvest. Leveraging top-tier technology, some of Nelson Pine Industries’s most recent large-scale projects includes the use of 1,000m3 of Nelson Pine LVL® as the sole material for the main structure of New Zealand’s largest timber office building in Devonport Rd, Tauranga (8-storey). Among others, Nelson Pine LVL® was also used for the building structure of the multi-tenanted retail precinct Nelson Junction. Nelson Pine Industries is at the forefront of sustainability with their products sequestering carbon for many decades, helping New Zealand (and other economies) to achieve its target to become a carbon-neutral economy by 2035. Once trees are grown, processed into MDF and LVL products and used in furniture and buildings, carbon is sequestered for decades until at the end-of their life-cycle. They can then be repurposed or used as fuel in biomass power plants, and growing trees again creating a closed-loop system. Executive director and chief executive officer Kai Kruse says: “I want to express my appreciation and thanks to our shareholders and all our staff, customers, suppliers, and community for the past 40 years and look forward to celebrating many more milestones. Going forward we will continue to grow our LVL Mass Timber business, especially for non-residential buildings, and we will diversify our MDF products further.” Chairperson Murray Sturgeon says that “the company succeeded in producing the high-quality products that have led to the present day and are now highly regarded both in New Zealand and around the world. The company has achieved significant growth over the past 40 years thanks to all our customers, our strong partnership with Sumitomo Forestry and the support of its dedicated employees.” Source & image credit: Nelson Pine Industries SnapSTAT - Export value of the NZ forestry industryLogs have been New Zealand's key forestry growth export since 2012. This chart provides a good breakdown by export products from 2024-2023 and a forecast for the next 4 years. Export products include; logs, sawn timber & sleepers, pulp, paper & paperboard, panels, wood chips and other forestry products.
View more stats at Figure.NZ End of native forest logging in NSW?
A Government appointed panel is exploring the idea of ending
logging in NSW native forests within four years. The
government is under mounting pressure over the impact of its own logging
business on nature.The historically divisive issue of taking slow-growing hardwoods from native forests has become even trickier as the government works to deliver its promised Great Koala National Park. That’s because logging by the state-owned Forestry Corporation is continuing in forests earmarked for inclusion in the new refuge. Conservationists are incensed, saying endangered koalas and greater gliders can’t afford to keep losing what’s being taken. In August, the government announced the appointment of an independent expert panel to lead consultations on what the forestry industry should look like in the future. One of five options being put to stakeholders – including industry players – is an end to native forest logging within four years, with supply to be met through other sources. More >> Source: Of the Area News Outdoor lab a vital tool for New Zealand
Information from the ‘lab’ is critical for developing
building standards.In a field on the side of a publicly accessible road on Scion’s Rotorua campus you’ll find tall, power pole-like structures, L-shaped joints sitting on what looks like park benches, decking at various stages of decay, rows of cladding and wooden stakes sticking in the ground. It isn’t a strange half-finished building site or dilapidated wood storage, it is vital strategic infrastructure for Scion and the whole country. The site is one of four forming the National Wood Performance Archive, and the biggest and most comprehensive. Collectively, the information gathered from the sites about wood durability provides a foundation for the timber industry and helps inform building practice standards and compliance. The testing is used to establish durability classifications for timber grown here and overseas. They include products from international companies wanting to launch in New Zealand. Information from the sites combined with information about structural performance established in Scion’s timber engineering lab informs how suitable wood products are for particular purposes. Scion’s site includes above-ground tests like decking, cladding and joinery, and in-ground stakes, posts and poles while the three remote sites – near Whangārei, Hanmer and Waitarere – only have in-ground stakes. Scion deliberately selected test sites with different environments and soil types to get a range of information. Scion’s field sites were established in 1947 meaning we hold more than 75 years of wood durability and performance records. Data is collected from the samples annually. Scion’s site has around 50 trials with different anniversaries, so testing takes place multiple times a month, while the other three sites are only visited once a year. Dr Tripti Singh, Scion’s leading timber durability expert, says the main purpose is to test timber durability – how long a product lasts for what purpose. For Singh, Scion’s site is like “an outdoor lab”. “We’re looking at product performance … Durability is one side of that, other aspects like structural stability and fitness for purposes are the others. They are correlated and we need data from various sources to establish the product’s performance. “Each product has advantages and disadvantages determining its end use and what is the right wood for the right use is the key. For any new timber species including hybrid species, we have to define what durability class that species sits in,” Singh says. Scion also tests new formulations and treatments that protect timber to see if they are effective. Some tests last decades as durability class can only be determined when the last sample fails. Maintenance is carefully completed. The ground around the tests can’t be mowed by contractors or sprayed with products that could inhibit natural flora and fauna. Weeds are pulled by hand and in summer maintenance can be a “big mission”. More >> Source & image credit: Scion  Jobs
Buy and Sell
... and one to end the week on... an elderly woman takes the stand
In a trial, a small-town prosecuting attorney called his first witness, a grandmotherly, elderly woman, to the stand. He approached her and asked, 'Mrs. Jones, do you know me?' And on that note, enjoy your weekend. Cheers.  Brand PartnersOur Partners & Sponsors Friday Offcuts is made possible through the generous support of the following companies.
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