Sawmillers send trial shipments of pine to Europe

By PAM GRAHAM

A group of sawmillers is sending 10 trial shipments of appearance-grade pine to Europe and Britain in a bid to develop new export markets.

The group is made up of members of the Timber Industry Federation and the wood is being marketed as 100 per cent New Zealand pine.

Federation chief Wayne Coffey would not say who was in the consortium but his federation's members are mostly privately owned sawmills.

Coffey said the initiative had been supported by NZ Trade and Enterprise.

The brand, originally launched as 100 per cent Pure New Zealand Pine, had upset tourist industry executives because of its similarity with their 100 per cent Pure New Zealand logo.

The sawmillers' venture into Europe comes after listed wood processing company Tenon developed an alliance with Danish furniture maker Zenia House.

Zenia House has launched a range of furniture using clear pine branded as Taupo Clearwood and the first furniture range is called Northland.

"More people are starting to consider Europe as an alternative to the US market but it is early days," an analyst said.

Chile already markets radiata in Spain for use by furniture and cabinet-makers and Italy is seen as a logical market.