Plantation Timbers

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The most likely products from plantations developed in East Gippsland would include pulpwood from thinning and at full rotation age, and small diameter sawlogs. The plantation resource would be sufficiently different from native forest timbers produced in East Gippsland that the current industry would have limited ability to process plantation products without retooling. Plantation economics relies on high-input and consistency of size to justify high capital expenditure required to develop and maintain infrastructure for drying, reconditioning and machining. As the technology and markets for processing plantation-grown eucalypt sawlogs are still being developed, it is unlikely that a plantation resource would be able to significantly contribute to eucalypt sawlog production in the foreseeable future.

However, some opportunity does exist for plantation-grown eucalypt pulpwood, particularly with the development of native forest regrowth, and the current interest in developing an industry to process residual logs derived from East Gippsland and the adjacent Tambo FMA.

(C of A and State of Victoria 1996)

Reference

Commonwealth of Australia (C of A) and State of Victoria (1996). East Gippsland Regional Forest Agreement: Comprehensive Regional Assessment. AGPS, Canberra.

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