Product development and research pays off

FORESTRY TASMANIA managing director Bob Gordon says the opening of the Ta Ann rotary peel veneer mill at the Smithton Wood Centre would benefit Tasmania by creating jobs and establishing new export markets.
The new manufacturing enterprise follows almost 10 years of product development and market research by Forestry Tasmania.
“Part of Forestry Tasmania’s job is to help the industry remain sustainable by making sure we look after the forests so they continue to supply a resource not only for the current generation but also for future generations,” said Gordon.
“We also play our part by helping the industry move with changes in technology.”
Forestry Tasmania has established Wood Centres in Smithton and in the Huon to enable better use of regrowth timber and assist in the move away from using old growth timber.
The investment-ready sites have been designed to encourage companies to produce a range of value added wood products using new processing and best technology. They encourage the use of harvested timber in the most valuable and efficient ways and allow Tasmania to supply the export market with a range of valuable wood products – a smart alternative to whole log and woodchip exports.
Logs to be supplied to Ta Ann represent a new product for Tasmania, and add value to logs that may otherwise only be suitable for pulp and paper manufacture.
For the past eight years Forestry Tasmania has annually exported to China up to 200,000 tonnes of peeler logs for high quality veneer to be used in value-added products.
With the establishment of the Ta Ann rotary peel veneer mills, production will now take place in Tasmania and that means more jobs for Tasmanians and more income for the State.
Forestry Tasmania will supply 150,000 tonnes of logs each year to Smithton Ta Ann to be cut into billet lengths.
“The mill will supply a lucrative export market in veneers in both Asia and Japan and the Ta Ann decision to develop the mills in Tasmania is a huge vote of confidence in the State’s ability to supply the high-quality, sustainably produced timber,” Gordon said.