Export Award For Carter Holt Harvey

Export Award For Carter Holt Harvey

Auckland, Wednesday, March 12, 2003 -- Carter Holt Harvey, New Zealand’s second largest company, exporter and employer, has won a Trade New Zealand Export Award for almost doubling annual exports in the past seven years to $1 billion, 24% of total revenue.

[Note to Editors: Media are invited to attend the presentation of the Carter Holt Harvey Trade New Zealand Export Award by the Minister of Trade Negotiations, the Hon. Jim Sutton, at 9.30am on Wednesday 12 March. The presentation will be held at the company’s premises, 640 Great South Road, Manukau.]

Carter Holt Harvey is an Australasian-based company with over 10,000 employees. Its wood-based products and brands are market leaders in forestry, wood products, pulp and paper, tissue and packaging.

Established as a family business more than 100 years ago, over the past ten years the company has outgrown domestic demand and looked overseas for new markets.

CEO Peter Springford says it has capitalised on opportunities for significant export growth into Australia, North America and Asia, and the result has been increased export sales in dollar terms and also as a percentage of total turnover.

Carter Holt Harvey’s primary exports are logs, pulp and paper and wood products that its customers use in manufacturing for either local or export consumption. The company targets countries that have a need for virgin radiata softwood product but don’t have a domestic supplier to fulfill those needs. Currently, key export markets are Australia, Korea, China, Japan and the US.

“Already our second biggest log export market, China has the potential for continued growth,” says Mr Springford. “We are putting time and energy in this region now to ensure that it is well placed to capture the opportunities.”

He says Carter Holt Harvey offers international clients quality products with reliable supply. The company has always invested heavily in forming intimate, long-standing relationships, and regional offices in key markets provide on-the-ground, face to face contact with customers. This is supported by regular visits from senior staff, including the CEO.

“We can attribute our success in competing with much larger global players to our low cost production and our focus on differentiating products,” says Mr Springford. “We believe it is critical to work closely with our customers to identify trends and meet their specific demands.”

Sustainability is also a key characteristic of the Carter Holt Harvey ethos, and one that Mr Springford says is of increasing value in its export markets. The company closely monitors and manages the impact on the environment across all its businesses.

Trade New Zealand Account Manager John Bedkober congratulated Carter Holt Harvey on its Export Award, saying the company had successfully grown and diversified its businesses with an emphasis on innovation.

"Carter Holt Harvey has strengthened its export base over the last decade in challenging
commodity trades. With its more recent emphasis on innovation and taking "ideas to business", the new products and processes it’s generating are starting to show how a mature company can build exports and gain significant growth."
Peter Springford says Carter Holt Harvey will continue to grow through export.

“We’ve achieved significant export growth with fresh approaches, but we aren’t about to sit on our laurels. We want to continue at the forefront of export, forging new practices and opening up new markets in innovative ways.”

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