The softwood plantation sawn timber industry today welcomed the Australian Customs and Border Protection Service's announcement it would formally investigate the industry's complaints that offshore companies are unfairly dumping structural timber products into the
Australian market.
'Dumping' is when offshore companies sell products for below their true or normal value and/or cost of production in order to increase sales.
The Australian softwood plantation sawn timber industry - worth more than A$1.5 billion annually in revenue - believes unfair dumping of imported structural products occurred as traditional northern hemisphere markets collapsed. This has slashed the Australian industry's sales volumes by more than 15 per cent since 2007/08. By contrast, imports from countries under Customs' investigation rose by 33 per cent over the same period, in a contracting market. Compared with 2007/08, the Australian industry's performance is at substantially reduced levels – in terms of sales volumes, operating margins and profitability.
The industry directly employs more than 5,000 people in regional Australia with at least another 5,000 contractors, casuals and others dependent on the industry. The regions affected are South East Queensland, Riverina/Murray Valley and Bathurst/Oberon in NSW, Mt Gambier in South Australia, Gippsland in Victoria, and the Bell Bay region of Tasmania. "As a result of this dumping, the industry has experienced a dramatic reduction in profitability over the last two years, much more than would have occurred if imports were fairly priced," said Mr Peter Hyne, General Manager at Hyne Timber, a key producer of sawn timber products, based in Queensland. "The industry is not against competition or imports. But what we want is a sustainable and competitive industry with fair competition. That is ultimately in the interests of all stakeholders and customers." Mr Hyne said.
Mr Hyne said that while the Australian companies had done all they could to minimise job losses, already the number of employees in the industry had dropped by six per cent over the last three years, not including contractors and casual staff, with more redundancies announced since March.
"If we do not take action now, there will be major long-term impacts on our industry particularly in regional Australia, already doing it tough because of volatile economic conditions," Mr Hyne said.
The Customs investigation is in response to an application by three companies which represent 75 per cent of the industry in Australia: Hyne Timber, Carter Holt Harvey Woodproducts Australia and Gunns Ltd.
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Description of applicant companies in the anti-dumping case
Hyne Timber
Hyne Timber is a large privately-owned timber company that has operated since 1882. Hyne has structural timber mills located in Maryborough, Queensland and Tumbarumba, in the Riverina region of New South Wales. The Hyne family's involvement in the timber industry spans five generations.
Hyne is a leading Australian manufacturer and distributor of engineered, structural and decorative softwood products for the building, construction and packaging industries both in Australia and abroad. A leader in technology implementation, product development and quality control with a world class manufacturing capacity, its environmental standards underpin its commitment to sustainably grown plantation timber production and supply in Australia.
Hyne has approximately 850 employees in 20 locations in eastern Australia. All timber is sourced from sustainably managed plantations. www.hyne.com.au
Carter Holt Harvey Woodproducts Australia
Carter Holt Harvey Woodproducts Australia Pty Ltd is Australia's largest wood manufacturing business with a diverse range of wood products for the building industry. The privatelyowned company manufactures and sells structural timbers from Mt Gambier, South Australia, Morwell in Victoria, Tumut, New South Wales, and Caboolture, Queensland. Carter Holt Harvey also participates in a 50:50 joint venture with Boral producing structural timber from the Oberon mill in NSW. It has major distribution centres in most capital cities.
The company employs 2,000 staff in Australia at 15 facilities. All timber used in its products is sourced from sustainably managed plantation forests. www.chhwoodproducts.com.au
Gunns Limited
Gunns Limited is a publicly listed company on the Australian Stock Exchange. Gunns has structural softwood timber production facilities located at Tarpeena, South Australia, and Bell Bay in Tasmania (acquired in early 2011).
Established in 1875, Gunns Limited is Australia's largest integrated hardwood and softwood forest products company. Gunns employs approximately 2,200 employees in operations in Tasmania, Victoria, South Australia and Western Australia. www.gunns.com.au
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