Fledgling wood marketer chopped down

By PAULA OLIVER

Timber marketer Wood New Zealand has collapsed just a year after it was hailed by the Government and industry as the bright way forward for targeting new export markets.

Intended to be the cohesive marketing arm of the timber industry, Wood NZ was launched 12 months ago with support from major companies Fletcher Challenge Forests, Carter Holt Harvey, and up to 60 smaller operators. Government support also came from Trade New Zealand, in the form of an $80,000 grant.

But funding for the venture has completely dried up, and yesterday it was confirmed that all but one staff member, based in China, are no longer involved.

That employee comes off contract before the end of this week, bringing the organisation to a close.

Wood NZ was headed by Gerald Hunt, a timber industry executive with many years' experience.

His strategy was for Wood NZ to place representatives permanently in export countries that the sector wanted to target.

One staff member, Doug Anderson, spent the past year working in China, making significant progress on incorporating the New Zealand building code.

Industry sources say Wood NZ never had enough funding from the start, and that when it came to putting hands in pockets, the industry was reluctant.

The organisation faced high overheads, and unlike similar, successful, marketing arms for the dairy and wine industries, the timber sector found it too difficult to work together.

After two research reports last week calling for a more cohesive marketing approach for the timber industry, Forest Industries Council chief executive James Griffiths admits the collapse is disappointing.

"It is disappointing the model didn't work, but it was always set up as an experiment," he said. "After 12 months, it has become clear the organisation was not meeting the needs of enough companies to continue funding it."

Trade NZ general manager of client services Dennis Maconaghie said his organisation had not intended to repeat its initial grant, which was always seen as a one-off. Fletcher Forests spokeswoman Ginny Radford confirmed the company would not have continued to support Wood NZ for another year, citing a duplication of strategies as the reason.

Mr Griffiths said Wood NZ was foiled for a number of reasons. Firstly the two major local players already had their own marketing strategies, as do other internationally owned companies. Smaller players' needs did not match the giants, who were focused on China.

"In the end it was a mismatch of objectives, needs and funding," he said.

"The industry has tried to co-operate in the marketplace on an ad hoc basis before, and while sometimes it's been successful, it has never been sustained."

Mr Griffiths said the Forest Industries Council, Timber Industries Federation and Pine Manufacturers' Association were now working toward establishing a programme for small to medium-sized industry players.

That could be set up by October.