Export prices creating industry logjam
WELLINGTON: Strong export prices for logs are creating bottlenecks in the local supply chain.
Forest owners are reporting problems securing loggingtruck drivers and, in some cases, harvesting contractors.
Forest Owners Association president Phil Taylor said when log prices were high, smaller forest owners, including farmers, seized the opportunity to maximise returns.
‘‘It’s a very good opportunity to realise their investments and for those farmers that have trees to provide them with a significant boost to their incomes.’’
The shortage in loggingtruck drivers was a developing concern and the association was keen to work with the NZ Forest
Service to encourage more people into the industry, Mr Taylor said.
‘‘The key bottleneck is around getting sufficient trucking to ship the logs from the forest where they’re harvested either to the mills or to the export ports.
‘‘I’ve been talking with a number of sawmillers recently who are struggling to be able to get reliable supply simply because of the restrictions in the transport sector.’’
That was no fault of the transport operators but the industry was ‘‘going gangbusters’’ and it was difficult to recruit enough workers into rural industries to keep up, Taylor said.
Road Transport Forum chief executive Nick Leggett said finding loggingtruck drivers was a challenge because most forestryrelated work required a class 5 licence, the highestlevel heavyvehicle licence.
The forum had launched a driver training programme which aimed to address that shortage, Leggett said.
‘‘Trucking has an ageing workforce and we want to bring a new and diverse range of people into the roadfreight transport industry.’’
While strong demand from China was driving up prices,
AgriHQ said high freight costs were impacting margins.
Forestry analyst Reece Brick said last month shipping rates hit an 11year high, around double what was being paid in December and January.
‘‘China is buying away at very, very strong levels at the moment but forestry’s the same as any other industry where just organising shipping is just a major headache and it’s starting to bite into prices.’’
That had more of an impact on forestry compared to other export industries, Mr Brick said.
‘‘There’s less ships chartered . . . It’s a bit more onthespot market.’’
The ANZ World Commodity Price index lifted 2.3% in April to extend its record high. ANZ agri economist Susan Kilsby said the lift in the index was driven by stronger prices for beef, lamb, logs and aluminium. Global demand for timber remained very high and supply restrictions from some countries meant New Zealand logs were highly soughtafter. — RNZ