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Finkel’s Clean Energy Target offers spark of opportunity for domestic manufacturers
Australia’s energy crisis is a real thing, impacting real businesses, especially in manufacturing. The impact of rapidly rising energy costs (electricity and gas) and supply insecurity, raises the prospect of facility closures over the next year to two years.... -
Hardwood chip owners, exporters and supply chains under sustained cost pressures
Modest price increases in recent months and reports of further increases for premium hardwood chip grades mask the reality of the last two decades – real prices received by growers and exporters have been falling almost continuously. Unlike the... -
Trailer parks and prefab housing will change the sector for the better
Some revolutions occur noisily and with fanfare, while others, even in the same sphere, occur quietly, arousing little attention. That seems to be the case with the changing patterns of Australian housing. On the noisier end of the spectrum... -
Wood pellet market potential developing slowly, for Australia
For Australian producers, the global wood pellet market is developing relatively slowly, largely due to our distance from the main markets in Europe. Global wood pellet production reached almost 28 million tonnes in 2016, around 4% higher than total... -
Dwelling approvals continue to slow – but not multi-storey townhouses
Australia’s dwelling approvals continue to slow, creating a storm of media commentary and action by regional governments to give at least the appearance they can do something about the slowing market. With approvals totalling 226,832 dwellings for the year-ended... -
Records tumble as softwood logs exit the nation
Australia’s total log exports fell just short of the 4 million m3 mark in 2016, with exports totalling a mammoth 3,965,907 m3, valued at AUDFob531.7 million. The annual record was capped off by the largest ever single month of... -
2016 Woodchip exports up more than 17%
Officially, Australia’s woodchip exports totalled 6,348,907 bdmt for the year-ended December 2016, up more than 9.0% on the year ended December 2015. We say ‘more than’, because since March 2016, no details have been formally available for softwood chip... -
Massive log exports deliver new record
Australia’s log exports continue to rise, surprise and cause some concerns. Latest trade data shows that in 2016, exports of softwood logs totaled a massive 3.614 million m3, up 20.7% on the prior year. Over the same period, exports...
