The Tasmanian Timber Industry

Timber harvesting and processing has been an integral part of the Tasmanian economy since European settlement in 1803. The timber industry is one of the top four contributors to the Tasmanian economy with an annual contribution of $1.3 billion. It currently employs over 10 000 people in the management, harvesting and downstream processing of quality native forest and plantation timbers.

Tasmania’s native forests currently provide almost all the millable hardwood resource and all the speciality timbers. Plantations of Radiata pine provide the softwood resource and there is an emerging solid hardwood industry based on plantation eucalypts. Large, automated mills process the bulk of the native forest eucalypt resource and the plantation softwood with small country sawmills processing hardwood and speciality timbers from native forests. Although Tasmania’s forests produce high quality timber for sawing the prevalance of a wide range of defects in native forest timber results in a significant majority of timber harvested entering the pulpwood stream. Although small by world standards the Tasmanian timber processing industry is diverse and is able to produce a wide range of products from fine furniture through reconstituted timber products to fine writing paper.

Timber species used for sawmilling

Just three of Tasmania’s twenty nine native species of eucalypt provide the vast majority of timber for the sawmilling industry. Small amounts of special species timbers with unique characteristics form the basis of a high quality furniture and boat building industry.

Three members of the “Ash” group of eucalypts, which grow in the higher rainfall areas of Tasmania, form the basis of the economically important tiimber industry in the State. These species have similar wood characteristics and are collectively marketed as Tasmanian Oak. Softwood timber is milled from plantation grown Radiata pine and there is a developing milling industry based on plantation grown Eucalyptus nitens. Huon Pine is perhaps the most widely known special species milled in the State but its availabilty is limited. Its resistance to marine borers , its easy workability and lack of movement in varying moisture conditions made it a sought after boatbuilding timber. A small, but highly skilled, wooden boat industry uses speciality timbers to provide high value products to world markets. Blackwood, with its rich, dark colours is a significant minor species milled for furniture, stairways and exposed surface uses.