Forestry workers get week to make decision on redundancy

Staff at the PanaHome pine manufacturing plant in Rotorua have until next Thursday to take voluntary redundancy.

Those who don't will have to wait for the company's decision on who will go and who will stay.

PanaHome director Neil Hammersley yesterday announced that 40 staff were being laid off at the Rotorua plant because of a drop in production orders and the high value of the New Zealand dollar.

Mr Hammersley said he wanted to emphasise the redundancies had been a decision of the New Zealand company's board, rather than a directive from PanaHome's parent company in Japan.

"The mood here has been surprisingly good. I have not seen anyone running around with a long face," he said.

There are 120 people working at the Rotorua plant.

Announcing the job losses yesterday, Mr Hammersley said in a statement there had been a drop in orders from PanaHome's parent company in Japan.

This was partly caused by the current strength of the New Zealand dollar, which has made radiata timber from Canada, China and Scandinavia considerably cheaper.

Wood was increasingly being replaced by steel products in Japanese construction and PanaHome had lost markets in the United States, again due to the strong New Zealand dollar and the availability of cheap wood from Chile, he said.

Wood Industries Union national secretary Jim Jones said the forestry industry needed a comprehensive strategic plan if it wanted to survive against overseas competition.

- DAILY POST (ROTORUA)