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Dubbed “ The Wall of Wood ”, it is the result of a spike in planting in the 1990s when log prices soared . Most wood is exported as logs , mainly to China , and Napier Port has made changes to the way it operates to accommodate the increase , including the ability to load logs from four berths .
Port commercial manager Andrew Locke said the volume had quadrupled since 2000 . “ We have gone from 400,000 tonnes to 1.6
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million tonnes ,” he said . “ Within eight years we will be at 3 million tonnes and I think that is a very conservative number .”
“ About 95 per cent of what we handle via Napier Port is on the truck and last year about 200,000 tonnes on rail . We think that will grow . We are working with the Wairoa rail option at the moment to try and take some trucks off the road . We think long term , we might get 300,000 to 350,000 tonnes on
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rail .”
The wood sector has faced criticism about its lack of wood processing facilities in the region , but Mr Locke said it was a major economic contributor . “ The latest number is $ 100 million that the forest sector brings to the Hawke ’ s Bay community .”
He said the largest forestry company , Pan Pac , which produces timber and wood pulp , ships 800,000 tonnes of cargo through
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Port commercial manager Andrew Locke
Napier Port annually and employed more than 45 people . “ The multiplier effect is a very large number .”
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Rottne Industri AB has recently signed a retailer agreement with the Argentine company Inderfor . The agreement means that , for the first time , Rottne Industri enters the South American continent .
“ We think Argentina provides an excellent good gateway to the South American market . Inderfor is a company with both great commitment and extensive industrial experience – the fact is that the first machine has already been contracted ”, says Tobias Johansson , CEO of Rottne Industri AB .
Inderfor has been active in Argentina for over 20 years , and works in the forestry industry with different brands and products , some of which come from Scandinavia . With Rottne ’ s range of equipment and machinery , the
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offer increases significantly , even though the company will start with a limited range of forwarders . Inderfor has a large customer base in Northeast Argentina , and also in southern Brazil as well as in northern Uruguay .
“ We are both happy and proud to be Rottne ’ s first dealer in South America . Our companies share the same values in which we both want to deliver reliable machines and offer knowledgeable and accessible service ,” says Darío Rodríguez , CEO and owner of Inderfor .
The first forestry machine that Rottne will deliver to Inderfor is the Rottne F15D forwarder . The Rottne F15D is well adapted to conditions in Argentina , when a lot of doubled-up shorter-length timber is processed , in combination with
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the Rottne F15D being a wellproven machine in this field .
“ The agreement with Inderfor comes as at extremely timely juncture , as Argentina recently introduced new customs rules for forwarders . Customs duty has recently been reduced from 35 per cent to two per cent , which
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we believe will provide the launch market with good potential ”, concludes Tobias Johansson . |
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Ponsse UK Ltd , a subsidiary of Ponsse Plc , has opened its new facility in Annan , Scotland .
“ The new premises are specifically designed for servicing forestry equipment , and will enable a good customer service and growth in the future as well ,” says Ponsse UK ’ s managing director Gary Glendinning .
In the new premises , four machines can be serviced at the same time . As well as spare part sales and warehousing , the service centre has training facilities for customer , driver and staff training .
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PONSSE UK ’ s machine fleet has been growing in recent years , making new facilities necessary . At the same time , work safety and working comfort have also developed in leaps and bounds . In addition to the new premises , other changes will be made at the turn of the year .
Gary Glendinning joins Ponsse as area director , responsible for the markets in Hungary , Romania , Slovenia , Croatia and Serbia . In addition , Glendinning will continue as the managing director for Ponsse Ireland .
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The post of managing director at Ponsse UK will be taken up by Dean Robson , who transfers to the position from machine sales . Like Gary Glendinning , Dean Robson also has been a long-time Ponsse |
employee . He joined Ponsse in 2004 , in spare parts sales . |