Agribusiness unfazed by UK timber ban

The UK Government encouraging people not to use timber from native forests will have little impact on Australian forestry managed investment schemes, according to three major providers.

Willmott Forests chief executive officer Marcus Derham said the UK sources most of its softwood from Europe, Africa and some from Asia.

“The move is a positive one, but Australia is at a geographical disadvantage for exporting softwood to the UK,” he said.

“We will continue to concentrate on the Australian domestic, market where there is still a shortfall in the consumption of domestically produced product.”

Derham said the shipping costs would put Australian producers at a disadvantage, but if markets did open up as a result of this move, then Willmott would certainly look at any openings.

Under the UK move, the British Government will only buy timber from sources where the product has been obtained through legal and sustainable sources.

A spokesman for Great Southern Plantations said his company was focussed on the Japanese market for woodchips and exporting to Europe or the UK was not on the radar.

“The high shipping costs of sending woodchips to the UK would make them uncompetitive,” he said.

“The UK’s move is unlikely to open up any new markets for us.”

However, Great Southern is finding a number of Japanese woodchip purchasers are calling for product from sustainable forests rather than old growth forests.

“There is growing environmental pressure on the [woodchip] product coming from everywhere these days,” the spokesman said.

One area that may benefit from the UK’s move is specialist timber producers, such as Tropical Forestry Services (TFS), which grows sandalwood trees.

TFS chief executive officer Tom Cullity said his company is seeing users of sandalwood oil wanting the product to be from sustainable forests.

“We are an environmentally friendly operation. We use the minimum of pesticides and are making moves on water recycling,” he said.

“This is important as French perfume houses are now specifying they want to use more natural products in their business.”

Cullity said any move to lift awareness of the use of sustainable timber and its products is to be welcomed.