July 25, 2011

New jobs in wood processing welcome

A new forest waste processing facility near Rotorua is a welcome move for the region and the wood processing workforce, the National Distribution Union said today.

Pacific Pine Derivatives has announced that a new facility processing forest waste into turpentine and rosin will be established in Kaingaroa Village, Rotorua, employing up to 150 workers when operational.

NDU Wood Sector Secretary Rawiri Daniels, who is based in Rotorua, said the news was welcome for an industry that had suffered a string of job losses in recent years.

“Wood processing has taken a hit, loosing over 1,000 jobs since 2008, prompting a crisis meeting at Parliament in January.”

“With log prices at record highs exporters of raw logs were making money, but value-added wood processors were being put out of business.”

“Since then the gap between the price of raw logs and processed logs has widened which is making life easier for processors, and to also see a new facility extracting forest waste being established is a welcome boost for Rotorua workers.”

Rawiri Daniels said he looked forward to a constructive relationship with the company, and was writing to them to establish a point of communication.

The National Distribution Union represents 22,000 workers including 1,600 in wood processing.

Background to this story can be found here, and here.

ENDS

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