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New forecasts show the wall of wood from maturing East Coast forests will nearly double existing timber production over the next six years, then treble it by 2020.
The forecasts provided a clear signal that the transport infrastructure and harvesting capacity in the region would come under increasing pressure and that ongoing investment would be required, said the chairman of the Eastland Wood Council, Julian Kohn. There would also be potential for new wood processing investment or expansion of plants.
New forecasts for the East Coast, released this week by the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry, show flows of radiata pine will increase from 1.1 million cu m in 2007 to around 2 million cu m a year in 2013.
Most of the increase from 2013 on will come from small-scale forest growers.
- NZPA
