Forestry Tasmania is expecting to announce a significant loss for the last financial year.
Managing director Bob Gordon said the company is likely to release its financial reports this week for the 2011-12 year. Source: ABC News
Mr Gordon said that it has been a particularly tough trading year.
“Particularly with the continued, and I believe, permanent closure of (the woodchip mill at) Triabunna it has made it very difficult for sawmillers, for Ta Ann, for Forestry Tasmania while there has been a blockade of the state effectively so that you can’t remove product,” he said.
“Gunns going the direction it did and eventually going into receivership and administration has also been an issue.”
Gordon said Forestry Tasmania managed to collect most of the debts owed by Gunns.
“One of those debts was related to the Southwood Huon sawmill where part of the arrangement was in the transaction where Del Vista purchased the mill,” he said.
“In return, Gunns paid Forestry Tasmania a significant portion of a debt that was in dispute which may not otherwise have been collected.”
Forestry Tasmania is talking to Gunns’ receivers about swapping some plantations.
The Greens are worried the organisation is eyeing off the schemes, following revelations it secretly bought the Southwood sawmill in the Huon Valley.
In parliament last week, Greens MP Booth asked the Resources Minister to rule it out.
Bryan Green told Parliament he had no advice about such a move.
Gordon said that Forestry Tasmania does not have the money to by plantation assets.
Instead, the company is talking to the receivers about potentially swapping some plantations.
“We haven’t got the cash to fork out large amounts of money to buy plantation estates.
But we are looking at ways we might be able to do non-cash transactions to have a win-win solution,” he said.
