Stars align for NZ foresters as ‘wall of wood’ comes on stream, prices reach record highs

Stars align for NZ foresters as ‘wall of wood’ comes on stream, prices reach record highs
By Tina Morrison Feb. 12 (BusinessDesk) – New Zealand forest growers, long overshadowed by booming returns from the dairy industry, look set to cash in on record prices for logs as they prepare to harvest trees planted in a flurry of activity two decades ago. Forestry plantation activity in New Zealand jumped between 1992 and 1998, as a surge in Asian log prices lured investment syndicates to the sector. Radiata pine, which makes up about 90 percent of the nation’s plantations, are typically felled between 26 and 32 years, meaning the “wall...