Forestry Tasmania to End Portside Fumigation

Forestry Tasmania says it will no longer fumigate its logs with methyl bromide in Tasmania, after a storm of controversy over a shipment that departed Burnie last week. There was some opposition in Burnie when locals found out state-owned enterprise planned to fumigate a shipment of logs bound for China with methyl bromide at the Burnie port.

It eventually decided to conduct the process offshore, before sending the shipment last week. Forestry Tasmania's general manager of operations Paul Smith said they had learned from the incident. "We have listened to the community and decided that in future we will avoid the use of methyl bromide in Tasmania," Mr Smith said on Monday.

To read the full story click HERE

(Source: Sydney Morning Herald)

Logging Career Promotion Wins US Media Award

The Telly Awards is an international competition that recognizes the work of media professionals in the Advertising, Broadcast, Online and Multimedia fields. Much like the Academy Awards, the entries are judged by industry peers and past winners and evaluated on messaging and production values. The Telly Awards receives over 11,000 entries annually from ad agencies, production companies, TV stations, cable companies, interactive agencies and corporate video departments. In this, the 31st annual Telly Awards, the Pacific Forest Foundation's new video "This Is My Office" was entered into the category of Online Recruitment and was awarded the Silver Telly, the highest award offered in the competition.

The video traverses the forests of California, Oregon, Washington and Canada to capture the sights and sounds of what foresters and loggers do every day and package it in an entertaining and informative way aimed at attracting young people into our industry.

To see the "This Is My Office" DVD visit PFF's website at www.pacificforestfoundation.org

(Source: Pacific Logging Congress)

China Wood Deficit Tipped to Benefit Exporters

Wood deficit in China to create major opportunities for Pacific Rim exporters: Big winners expected to be BC and Russian lumber, and New Zealand and West Coast North America logs. A new five-year outlook report quantifies China’s growing demand for imported wood and shows how tight supplies will drive prices higher for exporters.

China’s potential fibre-supply gap (the difference between total demand and total domestic supply) is projected to reach approximately 150 million m3 (roundwood equivalent) by 2015 — or a volume that is more than the entire Canadian timber harvest in 2009 — a strong indication that China’s wood imports must continue to rise in the short- to medium-term period to match with projected consumption.

China’s surging wood products industry is becoming raw material constrained due to its heavy dependence on logs from Russia (65% of China total log imports over the last four years). Russian logs have become more expensive and scarce with the imposition of the Russian log export tax (currently 25% on softwood and 40% on hardwood sawlogs). The global supply of incremental logs is not large enough to replace the declining Russian log supply in the short term. China needs to grow its raw material supply at 8-10% per year to achieve its desired growth rate, but WOOD MARKETS forecasts a potential global log (export) supply that will only allow China to grow its import supply at just a 3%–4% annual growth rate after 2011.

As a result of these dynamics, there are four exporting regions that should see the greatest benefits from the projected tightening of the wood supply and rising prices in China:

US South a Biomass Source for Europe

Energy companies in Europe show increased interest in sourcing biomass from the US South, reports the North American Wood Fiber Review. Woody biomass in the US South is attracting interest from European energy companies in their search for long-term, reliable and competitively priced supply sources, reports the North American Wood Fiber Review. The increased competition for wood fiber has pushed pine pulpwood prices upward in the Southeastern states this past year.

Demand for woody biomass, in the form of wood chips, wood pellets and torrified pellets will increase substantially in Europe over the next ten years, exactly how much though, is unclear as the size of the increase depends on policies and subsidies implemented by governments in individual countries within the European Union. The cost of locally sourced biomass on the continent has gone up for many energy plants, resulting in increase interest in importation of wood chips and pellets from neighboring countries or from overseas.

The US South is on the top of the list as a long-term biomass supply source for a number of energy companies. This is because the region has a stable supply of pulpwood, a well- functioning infrastructure, and competitive wood fiber costs as compared to most other markets in the world. According to the Wood Resource Quarterly, only Chile and the Western US had lower softwood pulpwood prices than the US South during the 1Q/2010. Hardwood wood fiber prices were well below the global average hardwood price index (GHPI).

Two large-scale, export-oriented pellet plants are currently on the drawing boards. German company RWE has a plant in southern Georgia under construction with plans to commence production in the 3Q of 2011. Magnolia Biopower has announced plans for an export wood pellet plant to also be sited in Southern Georgia.

This expanding green energy sector is situated within a stronghold of the traditional southern pulp industry with seven pulpmills within this Southeastern sub-region. The high concentration of wood fiber consumers within a fairly limited area has pushed wood costs higher the past few years. Pine stumpage prices have increased faster in this region than the average price across the South. In the 2Q/2010, prices were more than 50 percent higher than two years ago. With the expected increase in wood consumption by the energy sector in this sub-region it is likely that pulpwood costs will continue to be higher in this sub-region than the average for the US South.

(Source: Wood Resources International)

Buy and Sell

... Bless me Father - I have sinned ...

'Bless me Father, for I have sinned. I have been with a loose girl'.

The priest asks, 'Is that you, little Seamus Murphy?

'Yes, Father, it is.'

'And who was the girl you were with?'

'I can't tell you, Father. I don't want to ruin her reputation'.

"Well, Seamus, I'm sure to find out her name sooner or later so you may as well tell me now. Was it Mary O’Sullivan?

'I cannot say.'

'Was it Tamara Dickson?
'I'll never tell.'

'Was it Aine O’Brien?'

'I'm sorry, but I cannot name her.'

'Was it Catherine Reilly?'

'My lips are sealed.'

'Was it Peggy Kelly, then?'

'Please, Father, I cannot tell you.'

The priest sighs in frustration. 'You're very tight lipped, and I admire that. But you've sinned and have to atone. You cannot be an altar boy now for 4 months. Now you go and behave yourself.'

Seamus walks back to his pew, and his friend Paddy slides over and whispers, 'What'd you get?'

'Four months vacation and five good leads.'

That's all for a Wednesday - hope your week is a prosperous one - Any contributions are welcomed to the Editor
Cheers

John Stulen