COVID-19 changed everyone’s business plans and operations, almost overnight. Worldwide, industry events, trade shows and exhibitions planned for 2020 were impacted by the virus. Social distancing, tightening of travel and border controls and restrictions on meetings had meant that WoodTECH 2020, which was initially scheduled for mid-late August 2020 in New Zealand and Australia, had to be redesigned. With no in-person …

Highland Pine Products in the ongoing desire to improve product quality and operator safety are going to upgrade the controls on their Coastal Planer with a Gilbert Retrofit. After installing over a hundred Automatic Cutterhead Positioning systems on Gilbert and many other brand planers in North America such as Yates, Newman, Stetson Ross and Coastal planers, Gilbert will be retrofitting …

A world-first robotic innovation that scans and measures export logs on trucks has landed its Kiwi developers on the 2020 RBR50, Robotics Business Review’s prestigious global list recognising the 50 most innovative and transformative robotics companies of the year. Tauranga-based agricultural robotics and automation company Robotics Plus has been named a Global Top 50 Robotics Company for its industry-changing Robotic …

Bunnings will stop selling timber logged by VicForests after a court found the state government-owned forestry agency breached conservation laws. “Bunnings has a zero-tolerance approach to illegally logged timber that dates back two decades and our commitment is to only source timber products from legal and well managed forest operations,” Bunnings’ director of merchandise, Phil Bishop, said on Wednesday. Bishop …

Victoria’s processors of hardwood timber have formed a new association, the Victorian Hardwood Sawmillers Association (VHSA). Spokesperson Leonard Fenning said their purpose is to fight the Victorian State Government’s decision to shut the native forest industry. You can read a story on the VHSA here. Source: VAFI, gippslandtimes

Forest and Wood Products Australia (FWPA) WoodSolutions program has reached an exciting milestone, as it celebrates 10 years of providing high-quality, easy-to-understand information about the benefits of timber to the development, design and build sectors. Initially designed to support FWPA’s mission of increasing demand for and acceptance of timber in construction, the program has proven successful in demystifying timber and …

C3’s Portland log marshalling operation has increased throughput by 300% since the deal was completed despite C3 purchasing equipment and commencing operations during the COVID-19 pandemic C3, one of Australia’s largest forest products logistics providers and part of the LINX Cargo Care Group of companies, has secured a multi-million-dollar deal to provide log marshalling services in Portland, Victoria. The deal …

• It’s estimated more than 50,000 hectares of pine plantation in southern NSW was lost in the Black Summer bushfires • Tumbarumba’s Hyne Timber mill has lost 40 per cent of its future plantation wood supply • The timber industry is seeking federal freight subsidies to haul logs from other regions to sustain local mills When bushfires razed the outskirts …