Forestry contractors keep a watch on China
As forestry crews throughout New Zealand down tools because of the effects of the coronavirus outbreak, the Nelson region is yet to follow suit despite concerns being raised by forestry contractors who depend on log exports for their livelihood.
The Nelson-Marlborough region is one of New Zealand’s major forestry areas, with 16 per cent of the productive land area planted in production forests.
Stuff reported this week that logging workers in the Waikato and Bay of Plenty had been told to go home with no word on a return to work, while other crews throughout the country were affected.
Richmond-based Bryant Logging operates multiple crews around the top of the south employing around 85 people.
Contracting and scheduling manager Kim Bryant said the current situation ‘‘looks very uncertain with boats being delayed and exporters not wanting to give a price out.’’
Bryant said staff were currently working normal hours, however there was every chance the situation might change in the coming days.
‘‘It looks like there might be some days coming up where we might have to take off – we should have a clearer picture by Friday.
‘‘You can’t go back to the forest or wood lot owners and ask what they’ll be returning this month, because they won’t be sure – so it just shuts up shop.’’
Port Nelson Limited reported an increase in cargo volume on its last financial year to 3.6 million tonnes, which was buoyed by a growth in log volumes driven by increased Chinese demand.
General manager operations Matt McDonald said while overall operations were continuing as normal, there had been an acknowledged decrease in the number of logs arriving at the port.
‘‘We’re working with Public Health and following their advice for vessels arriving from China,’’ McDonald said.
Nelson Pine Industries (NPI) is one of the world’s largest single site producers of Medium Density Fibreboard and has capacity to process 1 million cubic metres of timber per annum, or 40 per cent of the region’s annual harvest.
The company’s chief executive Murray Sturgeon said apart from the slowdown over the Chinese New Year period, NPI had yet to experience any major issues in relation to sending product overseas. ‘‘At this early stage orders for our MDF have been strong and sound.’’
West Coast-Tasman MP and Minister of State for Trade and Export Growth Damien O’Connor said the Government had been aware of the potential impacts of coronavirus across New Zealand’s whole economy.
Some sectors, such as crayfish, had been affected almost immediately and forestry was the next industry to be significantly affected due to the build-up of log inventories already in place with in China.
Chinese ports were accepting ships with exports from New Zealand, Te Uru Ra¯kau – Forestry New Zealand said, but an extended new year holiday period meant there weren’t many workers to unload them.
The coronavirus infection had prompted shutdowns which left few people working in Chinese ports, causing slowdowns which have an effect on Kiwi exporters and those who buy in Chinese products.
O’Connor said with the disruption of the supply chain infrastructure, the ability to move logs from port to storage had also been affected, leading to uncertainty around whether China could handle the logs as well as the price that exporters might get for the product.
The situation remained uncertain because of the focus on trying to control the spread of the virus, which meant restriction on the movement of people and subsequently the ability for trade interaction.