Forestry Flow Account: 1996–2002

Strong Growth in Use of Wood Products

There was a strong increase in the use of wood products within New Zealand for the period 1996 to 2002, Statistics New Zealand said today. This increase occurred despite the Asian financial crisis depressing the market between 1998 and 1999.

Over this period domestic use of plywood increased dramatically by 367 percent (or 286,000m³ of roundwood equivalent), and particleboard use increased by 134 percent (or 98,000m³ of roundwood equivalent). These increases occurred predominantly in the furniture manufacturing and residential construction industries.

Exports of wood and wood products increased by over a third (by 40 percent or almost five million m³ of roundwood equivalent) for the period 1996 to 2002. The majority of these exports were to Australia (a quarter) and Japan (a fifth). New Zealand’s forestry industry contributed around $3,000 million in 2004 directly to New Zealand’s gross domestic product (around 3 percent) and provided around 100,000 jobs.

Released today, the Forestry Flow Account 1996–2002 presents analytical information about New Zealand’s forestry industry and the use of wood products within the economy as part of an environmental series measuring the reliance of our economy on natural resources.

The Forestry Flow Account 1996–2002 report and accompanying tables can be found on the Environmental Statistics webpage (www.stats.govt.nz/environment).

Brian Pink
Government Statistician

ENDS

Gordon Campbell: On John Key’s Agenda For The Nation

There seemed to be three main components to John Key’s speech :

a) tax cuts largely paid for by a hike in GST
b) mining in national parks and on conservation land, while building more roads.
c) giving firms easier access to the r&d from Crown Research Institutes, so that business can continue to get the taxpayer to pick up the tab for the research that keeps them competitive.

After all, corporate welfare is always such a blessed thing – its only social welfare that corrodes enterprise and ambition. More>>