AUS . BLUEGUM PLANTATIONS
MANUFACTURING
Portland which was in the other area we operate — so we acquired that , which allowed us to have our own avenue to market in Eastern Australia as well as Western Australia .”
As Price explains , the purchase of these port facilities has been as strategically valuable as the acquisition of the trees themselves . “ It allowed us to move down the supply chain ,” he says . “ Where we ’ d been totally reliant on third parties for getting our wood to market in the past , this gave us the opportunity to more effectively manage our supply chain , which we believe is a very sensible move in the long term .”
Over the two years , ABP has worked hard to integrate its new facilities and staff into the business as a whole . “ We think we did that pretty well ,” says Price . “ Now that we have pulled the supply chain together , the next step is to optimize and improve the efficiency of that supply chain .”
Exploring New Markets Diversification can be vital to the growth of a new business , and Australian Bluegum Plantations is looking outside of the paper pulp industry to discover new markets and develop new partnerships .
“ One that ’ s exciting to us at the moment and where we think there ’ s the potential for even more growth t is a product called dissolving pulp ,” says Price . “ This is used in the production of rayon for clothing . In China alone , that market is projected to grow 50 percent from its current level in the next two to three years . Historically , softwood was used for that process — but it ’ s now been found that the high quality of our fibre is well suited for this process . Probably 80 percent of our wood that is exported to China at the moment goes toward that process . So that ’ s an emerging or growing market for us and we ’ re pursuing that .”
Protecting the Environment Environmental protection is always a concern within the industry . Rather than avoiding the subject , Australian Bluegum Plantations embraces it , caring for the remnant native vegetation on its properties , along with native wildlife .
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