Tassie loggers just got a pay decrease.

Done it · 14th September 2010, 10:31 PM

Gunns change of management hasn't done sawmills or loggers much good so far. Looks like they'll loose 25/30% of their income.

Gunns chops woodchips trade - Yahoo!7

"[Japan] will only purchase woodchips that meet the FSC Controlled Wood Standard," it said.

Seems a bit contradictory. Save the trees but kill whales.

Eric Frei · 15th September 2010, 06:19 AM

It says:-

Quote:

Timber giant Gunns Limited is to slash the price it pays Tasmanian sawmills for native timber woodchips.

The company has told sawmillers it will only be paying $50 a tonne for the woodchips from October.

That is a drop of more than $20 a tonne.

Gunns is also changing the way it buys the waste woodchips from sawmills.

From next month it will only purchase the woodchips on short-term contracts.

In a letter to sawmillers, Gunns has told them they will need to arrange delivery of the woodchips to Gunns' Triabunna mill themselves.

The company says falling international demand for 'natural forest derived' woodchips is behind the changes.

Gunns has told sawmillers Japan will no longer buy them.

"[Japan] will only purchase woodchips that meet the FSC Controlled Wood Standard," it said.

"The only sales opportunity we now have is to non-Japanese markets at substantially lower prices than those previously achieved in Japan."

The price cut has left many sawmill owners, like Larry Jarman who runs a mill near Launceston, reeling.

"I've been here for 60 years and I'm very sick about it," he said.

Mr Jarman says his income is going to take a major hit, putting jobs at risk.

"We have to rely on woodchip sales to give us a decent income so we can keep people employed and make a profit.

"If we don't make a profit, we don't stay in business."

Sawmill operator Rob Torenius is in a similar situation.

"It makes it uneconomical to chip our sawmill waste."

Forest Industries Association of Tasmania chief executive Terry Edwards says smaller sawmill owners will be hardest hit.

"That is going to affect the viability of some of those businesses," he said.

The Opposition's industry spokesman, Peter Gutwein, says 'hundreds' of jobs will be lost as a result of the changes.

"In some cases [sawmills] have lost up to 25 per cent to 30 per cent of their turnover," he said.

Gunns has told sawmillers if they do not accept its offer, they will have to make 'alternative arrangements' for the sale of their woodchips.

The state's acting Premier, Lara Giddings, is confident the Federal Government's promised $20 million forestry assistance package will help sawmillers.

"We are very much aware that there are contractors in the forest industry who are hurting right now," she said.

"The more quickly that money can be distributed to assist those contractors, the better."
The Federal Government says a meeting to work out details of the offer will happen within the month.

There's a govt rescue package and they reckon 1 month to sort it.

Here's a link about the FSC standards, seems Australia is lagging and that is part of the problem. Businesses/wood need to get certified.

Forest Management | FSC Australia

14th September 2010, 10:31 PM	#1
Done it Over mature heritage tree Join Date: Nov 2007 Location: Australia. Posts: 780	Tassie loggers just got a pay decrease. Gunns change of management hasn't done sawmills or loggers much good so far. Looks like they'll loose 25/30% of their income. Gunns chops woodchips trade - Yahoo!7 "[Japan] will only purchase woodchips that meet the FSC Controlled Wood Standard," it said. Seems a bit contradictory. Save the trees but kill whales.

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