02 May 2012

For Immediate Release

Contractors Applaud NZ SuperFund Bid to Buy Kaingaroa Forest

News that the New Zealand Superannuation Fund is looking to purchase the remaining 60% of Kaingaroa Forest that is owned by Harvard is great news for the forest contracting industry,” says Forest Industry Contractors Association CEO, John Stulen.

“Having a New Zealand-owned asset for the jewel in NZ forestry’s crown is a step in the right direction for promoting the clean, green brand of NZWood,” added Mr Stulen.

“For years we have seen too many benefits going to disparate overseas-owned companies and as a result forestry marketing has suffered from fragmentation” he said.

“While the prospect of the sale of our largest forestry asset doesn’t change that immediately, it is indeed a move in the right direction – local ownership, local employment and local understanding of the value of the resource for export marketing” says Mr Stulen, “this can only be a good thing for everyone employed in forest and wood products industries.”

“Past sales of New Zealand forests have resulted in turmoil for local contractors as each time a sale takes place the new buyers have often put all service providers ‘through-the-ringer’ to extract lower prices for doing the same job as always. This caused turmoil to make accountants happy – as it ends up being the same geographically-competent local operators who have the experience and local knowledge to be most efficient at the forest management and harvesting work,”

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