A LOCAL parliamentary leader has voiced his opinion of the future of forestry in the region following an announcement by OneFortyOne Plantations last week.
Member for Barker Tony Pasin has expressed his views on the decision to not go ahead with the particleboard mill in Tarpeena.
“The news is obviously disappointing, but I’m confident we will see continued investment by the forestry industry in our region – including from OFO,” he told The Border Watch.
Mr Pasin was responding to OFO feasibility study results which showed the project would not be viable for the company.
The two-year study costing more than $1m finished “while the mill may have made a positive contribution economically, the significant industry changes including strong domestic market growth and two local OFO acquisitions over the last two years have significantly changed market conditions”.
“The news is obviously disappointing, but I’m confident we will see continued investment by the forestry industry in our region – including from OFO,” he told The Border Watch.
Mr Pasin was responding to OFO feasibility study results which showed the project would not be viable for the company.
The two-year study costing more than $1m finished “while the mill may have made a positive contribution economically, the significant industry changes including strong domestic market growth and two local OFO acquisitions over the last two years have significantly changed market conditions”.
If the study results were favourable, the project could have led to a capital investment of around $150m and the creation of more than 50 jobs.
Mr Pasin said the forestry industry “enjoys bullish prospects”.
“The creation of more than 10,000 forestry jobs in Australia since 2013 serves to reinforce this sense of optimism,” he said.
“An industry with enormous potential to meet domestic and global demand for fibre, timber and paper products is one that will continue to provide the economic backbone of many communities Australia-wide and our region is no exception.”
During her announcement on Wednesday, OFO chief executive officer Linda Sewell said the domestic market had changed dramatically and was the strongest it had been in over 15 years.
“We recognise that our forest is a finite resource and there is no excess fibre available now, which is also why we have recently stopped exporting saw log,” she said.
“However, by investing in the Jubilee Highway Sawmill and associated wood chip operations we have been able to keep more than 300 people employed within the region.”
