Eucalyptus from NZ port top wood export

Exports of Southland eucalyptus woodchips have according to the Southland Times doubled in the past two years and the wood is on the way to becoming the region’s main timber export. South Port chief executive Mark O’Connor said the volume of chips heading to Japan had climbed from 100,000 tonnes to more than 200,000 tonnes in two years, with the potential to climb beyond 250,000 tonnes.

In 1992, four Japanese companies - Oji Paper, Itochu Corporation, Fuji Xerox and Fuji Xerox Office Supply - set up the Southland Plantation Forest Company. It planted hardwood eucalyptus forests across more than 12,000 hectares of Southland for future export. South Wood Export manager Graeme Manley said the trees had now matured enough to ensure a sustainable harvest of 250,000 tonnes of woodchip for the foreseeable future. Source: Southland Times