Infrastructure for Forestry
The major infrastructure requirements to support forestry and wood processing in Nelson/Marlborough are road, rail and sea transport, energy, water, land and labour.
Road Transport
Predicted wood supply increases will mean a significant rise in road transport tonnages. Roundwood removals from the region are forecast to increase from 1.83 million cubic metres in 2000 (year ended 31 March) to 2.8 million cubic metres per annum by 2010. If all this additional volume was transported by road from the forest to the ports or processing facilities there would be approximately 35 000 additional truck movements per annum. However, some of this increase is likely to be transported by barge, and private forest roads are extensively used for transporting forest produce. Also, some companies are now using backloading of trucks for log transport. Over the last few years there has been a change to spread logging truck movements over 24 hours to reduce the impact on other traffic and reduce traffic delays.
Rail Transport
The main trunk line passes through the eastern part of the region, linking Picton with the West Coast via Christchurch and the North Island via the interisland ferry service.
Spring Creek, 22 kilometres south of Picton, is the loading (and pricing) point for forest produce leaving the region by rail. There is no rail link in Nelson.
Most forest produce carried by rail is sawn timber, with smaller quantities of MDF and waste paper, mostly for North Island markets. However, there is potential to rail logs between Marlborough and Canterbury.
Sea Transport
The region has major ports at Nelson and Picton. These have a wide range of facilities to handle log and timber exports. A $12-15 million wharf in Shakespeare Bay (Picton) began log exports in April 2000.
Three tug and barge services transport logs from forests in the Marlborough Sounds to Nelson, Picton or Havelock for further transport to local mills for processing or log export. Log rafting (where bundled logs are floated in the water) is not permitted because of the danger to water quality standards, impacts on the marine farming and danger to other crafts.
Nelson
The port of Nelson, which is managed by Port Nelson Ltd, has seen a 32 percent increase in total cargo between 1995 and June 2000. The company predicts a total annual cargo of three million tonnes by 2006, up from 2.4 million tonnes in 2000.
Forest products made up 45 percent of the total cargo in 2000 (June year). Forestry will contribute to future increases in exports through the increasing forest cut, new processed timber products and planned timber processing capacity increases. Sawn timber and log export data 1990-1999 are provided in Tables 11 and 12.
The need for covered storage for sawn timber, MDF and LVL will require an increase from 8747 square metres to nearly 11 000 square metres. The log storage area of 6.6 hectares will need to increase to 8.6 hectares to cater for the expected increase in shipment size from average 10 000 JAS (tonne) to 26 000 JAS.
Recent trends in forestry shipping include carrying a mixture of sawn timber and logs on the same vessel, especially for markets outside Asia, and log exporters sharing space on the same vessel.
Marlborough
Port Marlborough New Zealand Limited manages the wharf facilities in Picton. In 2000 the company completed the construction of wharf and log storage facilities at Shakespeare Bay, a $15 million development. Shakespeare Bay is an extremely sheltered deepwater location ideally suited to forestry exports and other bulk products, with a 16 metre draft and 10 hectares of storage area adjacent to Waimahara Wharf.
Regular log exports from Picton started in 1991. Log tonnages through the Port (year ending June 2000) were approximately 100 000 tonnes. These tonnages are expected to rise dramatically during 2001-2005 as the projected annual harvest from Marlborough climbs to 700 000 cubic metres.
Table 11: Sawn Timber Exports from Nelson and Marlborough Ports
Year ended |
Picton |
Nelson |
Total |
1990 |
75 500 | 75 500 | |
| 1991 | 79 500 | 79 500 | |
| 1992 | 4 100 | 94 800 | 98 900 |
| 1993 | 6 300 | 98 600 | 104 900 |
| 1994 | 6 100 | 99 500 | 105 600 |
| 1995 | 7 000 | 87 800 | 94 800 |
| 1996 | 4 600 | 88 500 | 93 100 |
| 1997 | 3800 | 96 200 | 100 000 |
| 1998 | 112 400 | 112 400 | |
| 1999 | 78 900 | 78 900 |
Source: Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry
Table 12: Log Exports from Nelson and Marlborough Ports
Year ended |
Picton |
Nelson |
Total |
1990 |
0 | 117 300 | 117 300 |
| 1991 | 18 800 | 162 700 | 181 500 |
| 1992 | 63 400 | 247 100 | 310 500 |
| 1993 | 62 500 | 349 900 | 412 400 |
| 1994 | 40 400 | 338 200 | 378 600 |
| 1995 | 87 600 | 417 300 | 504 900 |
| 1996 | 82 700 | 519 500 | 602 200 |
| 1997 | 36 700 | 544 300 | 581 000 |
| 1998 | 47 100 | 336 100 | 383 200 |
| 1999 | 69 300 | 517 600 | 586 900 |
Source: Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry
Energy
In 1998 the wood processing industry is estimated to have accounted for around 12 percent of New Zealand’s energy consumption. Of this, 86 percent was consumed by pulp and paper production. Most of the remainder was used by panelboard production and kiln drying sawn timber.
The potential for co-generation of energy has been realised by the forest industry, which produces around 50 percent of the energy it consumes by burning pulp and wood residues. Electricity from the national grid is the next largest energy source, providing approximately 22 percent of the industry demand. At the Nelson Pine Industries MDF plant 70 percent of all energy required is generated on site from wood waste and saw trim fuels.
The forestry industry’s energy requirements are expected to experience considerable growth between 1998 and 2020 due to the increasing forest harvest and potential for domestic processing. Electricity consumption is projected to grow at 2.7 percent per annum and gas consumption 2.2 percent per annum over this period.
Water
Nelson/Marlborough can suffer from drought and in some areas water is a critical factor in establishing processing industries.
Other issues include the effects of afforestation on stream flows and groundwater recharge. Resource consents may be needed to establish forest in parts of Nelson’s Moutere catchments and Marlborough’s southern catchments.
Water demands have raised issues such as:
- establishing the safe yield of aquifers and minimum flows for rivers;
- difficulties in reversing water allocations when water resources become over-committed;
- the varying demands different land uses place on water;
- the option of water storage for irrigation and industrial use;
- effluent disposal options.
Marlborough has a number of available sites for establishing processing industries, with water from the Wairau River or nearby underground sources. Smaller flows could be obtained from underground aquifers further away from the Wairau River.
Water shortages are more severe in Nelson. Water is fully allocated in the Waimea catchment from underground and surface sources during summer. However, storage dams remain an option in the Waimea and Moutere catchments. The Motueka catchment is subject to a draft conservation order, which in time will limit available water for industry use and restrict effluent discharge into the river.
Water requirements are likely to be significant for future processing options such as sawn timber, board products and plywood. However, this is not a limiting factor in most cases.
Land
The Nelson/Marlborough region land area covers 2 260 300 hectares. The areas in Table 13 show the gross area identified in satellite images of the different landcover. For planted production forestry, these are greater than the net stocked area figures derived through the National Exotic Forest Description surveys.
Table 13: Regional Land Use – Nelson/Marlborough
Area (ha) |
|||||
| Land Use | Nelson |
Marlborough/ Kaikoura |
Total |
% |
|
| Pastoral | 154 000 |
245 700 |
399 700 |
18 | |
| Horticulture | 5 600 |
2 800 |
8 400 |
< 1 | |
| Planted production forest | 108 700 |
70 000 |
178 700 |
8 | |
| Natural forest, and Scrubland | 629 800 |
483 600 |
1 113 400 |
49 | |
| Other | 109 700 |
450 400 |
560 100 |
25 | |
| Total area | 1 007 800 |
1 252 500 |
2 260 300 |
100 | |
Source: Land Cover Database – gross areas derived from satellite images
Labour
Table 14 includes employment data for forestry and wood processing activities in the Nelson/Marlborough region. It is interesting to note that while there are 725 full time equivalents in the Forestry/Logging and Services to Forestry categories, the first-stage-processing sector is also very important with 813 full time equivalents. Transport of logs or timber is not included in the employment figures.
Table 14: Employment in Forestry and First Stage Processing – Nelson/Marlborough
| Number of Full Time Equivalents for Selected ANZSIC Codes | ||||
Year as at February 1999 |
||||
| Nelson | Marlborough |
Total | ||
| Forestry and logging | 407 | 130 | 537 | |
| Sawmilling | 520 | 110 | 630 | |
| Timber Resawing and Dressing | 20 | 0 | 20 | |
| Wood Chipping | 3 | 0 | 3 | |
| Plywood, veneer and MDF board | 160 | 0 | 160 | |
| Pulp, paper and paperboard | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Services to forestry | 103 | 85 | 188 | |
| Total forestry and first stage processing | 1 213 | 325 | 1 538 | |
Source: Statistics New Zealand
Contact for Enquiries
Policy Analyst - Forestry
Innovation and Research
MAF Policy
Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry
PO Box 2526
Wellington
NEW ZEALAND
Tel: +64 4 894 0100
Fax: +64 4 894 0741
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