What we are seeing at the moment is that Tasmanian native forest woodchip exports to Communist China have stopped. The last native forest woodchip export to mainland China was in March 2023. (Pax Silva 7,098 tonnes woodchips). Communist China was Tasmania's biggest buyer of woodchips. Companies selling STT native forest woodchips are ARTEC and Midway at Bell Bay.
Since March China have bought 3 shiploads of plantation woodchips from US-owned Smartfibre at Bell Bay. Forico at Bell Bay South only sells to Japan. Exports to Taiwan of native forest woodchips are unaffected but Taiwan buys a fraction of the tonnage that Communist China was buying.
It's amazing that the Tasmania-China 'woodchip conveyor belt' was always hidden? Nearly everything is covered-up by Communist China but the Tasmanian government was just as enthusiastic about hiding a large export industy. Tasmania is a slavish supplier of anything it can to the hostile, overpopulated dictatorship. A dictatorship that has offered 'unlimited support' for Vladimir Putin.
Burnie was also a big export port for Communist China but it's the same story there. Woodchips were always the lowest cost part of the clear-felled Tasmanian native forests harvest, but the largest component by volume. The expensive timber product like bluegum went to the 'Asian Timber Mafia' owned Ta Ann at Smithton. Next in line were Tasmanian-owned sawmills. Everything else ended-up at the woodchippers.
September 2023 Update
Some woodchip movements have resumed from the 3 chippers at Wharf 6 but nothing like last year. Interesting that the last shipment from US-owned Smatrfibre was sold to Japan. This is where all of Forico's exports go and it means the Tasmanian wood chippers are cannibalising each other's markets.
