Well I’m sure we can all agree. It definitely hasn’t been your average year!
Island Specialty Timbers (IST), the only source of open, competitive, transparent market blackwood log prices, managed to conduct 6 log tenders during the year. A normal year would see 8-9 log tenders.
https://www.islandspecialtytimbers.com.au/
IST is a business enterprise of Sustainable Timber Tasmania (STT) which sources and retails raw material of Tasmanian specialty timbers from harvest or salvage operations conducted on State owned Permanent Timber Production Zone land (PTPZl).
You can read my previous annual tender summaries here:
https://blackwoodgrowers.com.au/?s=tender
Blackwood Results
Despite the fact that blackwood is by far the most common specialty wood in Tasmania, IST insists on restricting tender sales of blackwood. Only 3 blackwood logs were put to tender this year in 2 of the 6 tenders; 3 logs out of a total of 194 logs put to tender!
That’s pretty pathetic!!
Tasmanian blackwood is the only specialty timber species that can be grown in commercial plantations. Having a plentiful supply of market information might actually stimulate investment in tree growing in Tasmania, but IST/STT and the Tasmanian Government are determined to prevent any useful market information being available.
IST/STT and the Tasmanian Government continue to support Welfare Forestry in Tasmania, instead of promoting a profitable commercial forest industry.
All 3 blackwood logs put to tender sold, 1 log had figured grain, the other 2 logs were plain grain.
All 3 logs were of good size and reasonable quality.
The figured grain blackwood log sold for $825/m3, total price $982.
The 2 plain grain blackwood logs sold for $400-$450/m3, total prices $468-$774.
The following chart shows the volume and price data for the last 6+ years for plain grain blackwood logs. Having enjoyed 4 years of steadily improving prices this year showed a subdued market.
These logs are sold into the small local Tasmanian market which restricts prices somewhat.
These prices are effectively mill door delivered, not stumpage prices.
The following chart shows the range in size of the sold plain grain blackwood logs.
A target plantation grown blackwood log has a volume of 1.5 cubic metres and a small end diameter (SED) of approx. 50 cm.
General Results
Overall IST put 112 cubic metres of specialty timbers to tender in 2019-20 of which 97 cubic metres sold for total revenue of $94,200.
Last year Sustainable Timbers Tasmania sold 9,747 cubic metres of specialty timbers, so these competitive tender sales represent a mere 1% of specialty timber sales from public forests in Tasmania.
The following chart shows the volume and price summary for all tenders back to 2015.
The tiny volumes and wide variability in species and quality of logs that IST put to tender makes assessing trends over time difficult.
The next chart shows the average volume of the sold logs. Here there is a clear trend of diminishing log size. If it wasn’t for the occasional large eucalypt log IST throws into the tender mix, this trend of diminishing log size would be even more evident.
The following 2 charts show the above data summarised by year:
What remains apparent is that the market continues to pay high prices for quality timber.
The main focus of IST tenders is black heart sassafras (Atherosperma moschatum) which can command very high prices for good logs.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atherosperma
However the tree is slow growing (500+ years to reach commercial size) and is restricted to rainforest and old growth eucalypt forest, so supplies of this species are dwindling.
Surprisingly the marketplace continues to support the plundering of Tasmania’s last ancient forests!
For 2019-20 black heart sassafras made up 37% of sold volume and 52% of tender revenue, whilst eucalypt feature grain logs made up 22% of sold volume and 9% of tender revenue.
6.7 cubic metres of celery top pine logs (Phyllocladus aspleniifolius) were sold at an average price of $1,050 per cubic metre.
Overall highlights for the year were $4,975 per cubic metre paid for a small musk (Olearia argophylla) log; whilst a total price of $2,933 was paid for a medium sized black heart sassafras log.
Bunnings and the Forest Industry Extremists
https://ausfpa.com.au/media-releases/bunnings-short-sighted-decision-will-cost-aussie-jobs-and-lead-to-environment-destroying-imports/?fbclid=IwAR0jgN7DidmkyPHn2LjzQwbXjN-ccbWDJYxgEi7LWoeVBxb_–z16rK-SDk
Am I surprised?
No not really!
The exaggerated rhetoric and chest beating of the forest industry extremists is utterly predictable.
Is Bunnings short sighted?
Absolutely not.
They have long-standing company policies that seek to improve the ethics and legality within its supply chains.
Bunnings has for many years been supportive of Vicforests efforts to gain FSC certification, but after numerous attempts Vicforests has failed to achieve what so many other forest managers have.
https://www.vicforests.com.au/
In 2018 Bunnings announced that come 2021 they would only sell FSC certified wood products.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-09-17/vic-forestry-industry-at-risk-of-collapse/10255128
Vicforests has had plenty of opportunity to prove its credentials. It has failed!
The Federal Court ruling in May was a “last straw” which Bunnings could not ignore.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-05-27/leadbeaters-possum-federal-court-rules-vicforests-logging-breach/12292046
https://www.fedcourt.gov.au/services/access-to-files-and-transcripts/online-files/friends-of-leadbeaters-possum-v-vicforests
Vilification
The vilification by the AFPA of Bunnings and the Victorian community who care about THEIR forests, is downright reprehensible.
It does the greater forest industry no good whatsoever.
Will there be job losses?
Absolutely!!
But the WELFARE FOREST INDUSTRY must face its Waterloo.
And the longer the battle rages and the more vehement the rhetoric, the worse the damage will be.
The AFPA is clearly determined to maximise the damage.
Will Bunnings actions lead to greater forest destruction overseas?
This is more disingenuous rhetoric from the AFPA.
Australia has legislation that specifically prevents the importation of illegal timber. You can read about it here:
https://www.agriculture.gov.au/forestry/policies/illegal-logging
If Bunnings is only selling FSC certified wood products, how does that lead to greater illegal forest destruction overseas? The logic doesn’t work!!
With this rhetoric the AFPA is implying that Australians do NOT care where their timber comes from, whilst Bunnings is showing us that Australians do care!
Another implication is that the AFPA believes that the FSC supports illegal destructive logging. I wonder what the FSC has to say about that??!!
Exactly who is the AFPA trying to offend??
None of this exaggerated hostile rhetoric does the forest industry any good whatsoever.
Contempt of Court
Instead the AFPA would rather push the boundaries of Contempt of Court by suggesting that the Federal Court is being misled or in error in its judgement.
Dangerous ground indeed!!
Bunnings is to be commended for having a social conscience and sticking to it despite the political heat.
If only more Australian businesses were like minded. I’m thinking here especially of Australias other hardware empire Home Timber & Hardware:
https://www.homehardware.com.au/
which so far seems to have little sense of corporate responsibility.
https://www.metcash.com/corporate-social-responsibility/responsible-sourcing/
Come 1st January 2021
Bunnings revised its timber policy to require all native forest timber products to be independently certified to Forest Stewardship Council (FSC®) or equivalent standard by the end of 2020. Officeworks and Bunnings both recognise FSC® as the leading forestry certification scheme due to its high environmental and social standards for responsible and sustainable forest management, as well as its chain of custody processes and balanced governance structure.
https://sustainability.wesfarmers.com.au/our-principles/sourcing/suppliers/
Come 1st January 2021 Bunnings and Officeworks will add the NSW Forestry Corporation and Sustainable Timbers Tasmania to its list of proscribed suppliers
https://www.forestrycorporation.com.au/
https://www.sttas.com.au/
since neither of these Government forest agencies have achieved FSC certification.
There is much change and pain ahead.
I only wish the forest industry would adopt a more positive approach.
I am not hopeful!
1 Comment
Posted in Commentary, Sustainable Timbers Tasmania
Tagged Bunnings, NSW Forestry Corporation, Vicforests