Contractors Applaud NZ SuperFund Bid to Buy Kaingaroa Forest

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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