CHH hails China sales deal

Forestry giant Carter Holt Harvey is welcoming a sales and marketing deal that it hopes will boost its exports to China by 30 per cent.

Carter Holt has signed a deal with its sister company, Hong Kong-based International Paper Pacific Millennium (IPPM), to sell its medium-density fibreboard in China.

Under the agreement, IPPM will market and sell customwood and other wood products in five of China's northern provinces.

Carter Holt's Pinepanels division already sells the fibreboard in the southern part of China, where it is used to make furniture for export to Japan and the United States.

IPPM is half-owned by Pacific Millennium Corporation. The other half is split equally between Carter Holt and its parent, International Paper.

About 80 per cent of the medium-density fibreboard going to China will be made in Carter Holt's plant in New South Wales. The rest will come from its factory in Rangiora.