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Woodchips
for pulp, paper and wood panel production
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A well-known farm forester once said, "
… growing trees for woodchips was like growing sheep for
dags." Although more than 50 per cent of a sawlog may end
up as woodchips and sold out of the back of the mill, he argued
that it is the sawn timber that makes a tree worth harvesting.
Some chip buyers actually prefer mill waste to whole logs from
young plantations because it is easier to handle, requires less
preparation, and usually has a higher average wood density because
most sawlog waste comes from the outside of mature trees (see
wood properties).
Other buyers appear less concerned about the lower wood density
of young plantation trees. For example, specialty woodchip buyers—such
as Japanese paper makers—actually pay a premium for young,
clean, white, plantation grown eucalypt woodchips because they
are cheaper to process.
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Farmers need to think about several factors
before deciding to plant a forest for woodchips for pulp, paper
and wood panel production. Some are within their control but
others are not. Critical factors include:
• species
• age
• tree size
• access for harvesting
• scale of production
• the uniformity of the stand.
Even where the stand meets the market specifications, small
growers might have to negotiate with monopoly contractors who
can dictate prices. In these circumstances, rather than working
alone, it might be more profitable for farmers to enter into
lease or joint venture arrangements with the buyers.
Woodchip exporters and local paper and wood panel makers (of
which there are only a few) are often large-scale operations
influenced by world prices rather than local demand. Growers
generally need to be located close to their potential buyer
because low margins and high transport costs mean that hauling
woodchips and logs more than 100 kilometres may not be economically
viable. Consider an example where the mill door value of the
log is $45 per cubic metre and the cost of harvesting is $25
per cubic metre. If it costs 10 cents to transport a cubic metre
of pulpwood one kilometre the standing value of the logs will
be $15 per cubic metre 50 kilometres from the mill compared
to $10 if located 100kms from the mill.
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