Opinion

Six things to help fix the building timber shortage

Pattrick Smellie
Fri, 02 Apr 2021

Six things to help fix the building timber shortage

Pattrick Smellie
Fri, 02 Apr 2021

No sooner did New Zealand start building a lot more houses – the ultimate fix for home unaffordability – than we started to run short of wood.It’s so New Zealand-y, it makes you want to weep. A country apparently full of pine trees but a shortage of timber. How could that possibly have happened?The short, easy story is that NZ ships too many unprocessed logs to China and other markets with low-cost labour and we short-change ourselves in the process.If only it were so simple.A book – perhaps not a very interesting book &...

Unlock all stories
free for 10 days

Trustworthy, balanced journalism every day from our growing team of New Zealand business reporters and commentators, plus more in our weekend magazine section, The Life.

Instant News Alerts based on keywords you choose or journalists you follow
Our Daily Digest of all stories at 6am, midday or 6pm
Comprehensive business and markets coverage
News vie email, web and Apple/Android apps

Try for 10 days without paying and if you’re not convinced cancel with just two clicks.

Find out more

Subscribe now

Name

E-Mail Address

Password

Confirm Password

We had trouble validating your card. It's possible your card provider is preventing us from charging the card. Please contact your card provider or customer support.

Cardholder's Name

Card

You will be charged in 10 days unless you cancel beforehand. We will remind you three times before charging you.
All subscriptions auto renew but are easy to cancel.

I Accept The Terms Of Service {{ registerForm.errors.get('terms') }}

Tax: {{ taxAmount(selectedPlan) | currency }}

Total Price Including Tax: {{ priceWithTax(selectedPlan) | currency }} {{ selectedPlan.type == 'user' && spark.chargesUsersPerSeat ? '/ '+ spark.seatName : '' }} {{ selectedPlan.type == 'user' && spark.chargesUsersPerTeam ? '/ '+ __('teams.team') : '' }} / {{ __(selectedPlan.interval) | capitalize }}

Or Subscribe with Google

Not convinced yet?

Subscribe to our Daily News Update free newsletter.

Coronavirus

Red light for Auckland, orange for South Island

Brent Melville | Mon, 29 Nov 2021

The government will move New Zealand to its traffic light framework from Friday with most of the country in either the red or orange levels.

Opinion

Taming the beast that's inflation

Cameron Bagrie | Mon, 29 Nov 2021

The RBNZ’s job is not going to be easy over the coming years. There are myriad forces at play and reading the tea leaves will be tough.

Tourism

The cost of slow border openings to tourism: $39b by 2024

Brent Melville | Mon, 29 Nov 2021

The impact on New Zealand's tourism sector will continue to be felt until the country removes its border quarantine system, tourism operators say.

Six things to help fix the building timber shortage

Subscribe now

Or Subscribe with Google

Not convinced yet?

Your company has a subscription

Team