Nelson Forests has begun loading its largest ever log ship consignment at Port Nelson

Nelson Forests Ltd (NFL) has marked a significant milestone by beginning to load its largest log consignment ever onto the 51,000-tonne capacity vessel, the Ultra Tradition at Port Nelson.

The majority of the load (30,000 tonne of logs) will be stowed at Port Nelson with the remainder loaded at the Port of Marlborough (Picton).

“While only 30 per cent of our annual cut of just over one million tonne of logs is exported, Nelson Forests is pleased to be able to provide an outlet service for small forest owners in the Nelson and Marlborough regions so that we can purchase their logs and combine them with our output,” said Nelson Forests’ Managing Director, Lees Seymour.

“This means that we can move stock out of both regions regularly enough to meet the requirements of our key offshore markets. This economy of scale also allows us to take advantage of a visit from a vessel such as the Ultra Tradition.

“Supporting the ports in both Nelson and Marlborough also provides good economic returns to the community through marine charges, stevedoring services and dividends from the community-owned port companies.”

Local stevedoring company Tasman Bay Stevedores has the contract for loading the Ultra Tradition and has developed some innovative tools to enhance its vessel loading services for its customers, said Seymour.

“We’ve been impressed by the way that they strive to improve ship loading efficiency – they’ve developed some really clever tools, such as TBS’ new tracking software.”

That efficiency is very important in terms of meeting customers’ requirements for the movement of logs from the forest to their end destination, said Seymour.

“NFL values long-standing relationships with its export customers and the high level of service we receive from Port Nelson supports that. One of our key end-user customers in South Korea, for example, has taken logs on every log vessel out of Nelson for the last 17 years. Another customer takes more volume from us annually than any other single onshore customer – we recently celebrated two million tonne of log sales to that customer.”

Ends

Key facts:

• NFL harvests just over one million tonne of logs per annum in Nelson and Marlborough
• Approximately 70 per cent of its annual harvest is sold into the domestic market with the remaining 30 per cent exported through Port Nelson and the Port of Marlborough (Picton)
• NFL supports a workforce of just over 600 people (through its 18 contractor harvesting crews, at its Kaituna Sawmill and at its office in Richmond)
• A typical log vessel carries 28-32,000 tonne of logs (mainly to South Korea and China)
• Export logs are typically of industrial grade with the timber used for temporary construction materials and packaging. Higher quality logs tend to be sold domestically.