ForestrySA shows timberland assets to prospective purchasers of South Australia's timber cutting rights
Audrey Dixon
LOS ANGELES
,
June 11, 2012
(Industry Intelligence)
–
Prospective international buyers of ForestrySA’s timber assets have been converging on Mount Gambier in South Australia to tour the resource, according to The Border Watch on June 12.
ForestrySA, which manages the timber plantation assets of the Australian state, is reportedly planning to host several parties this month in connection with its forward sale of state-owned timber, although the government is not confirming how many shortlisted companies are being given the grand tour.
South Australia's plantation resource under ForestrySA’s management consists of about 70,000 hectares in the Green Triangle and 14,000 hectares in the Mount Lofty Ranges and Mid North Regions of the State, its website states
Industry estimates put the vallue of the forward timber sale at more than AU$600 million, The Border Watch noted.
Mount Gambier-based forestry industry expert Dr Jerry Leech said the interested companies would need to confirm the Treasury’s figures for long-term wood availability. The complexity of that task will be compounded by the fact South Australia has unusual timber measurement procedures, being on a windswept coastal plain, he noted.
The companies will also likely have held talks with Carter Holt Harvey and other wood-users to gauge their future plans and needs.
The industry grapevine indicates the successful bidder could spend as much as $1 million on the process, and even the unsuccessful ones stand to spend at least $300,000, said Leech.
As previously reported, The Australian Financial Review, via the Stock Journal on Dec. 21, 2011, reported that South Australia’s planned forward sale of cutting rights had drawn expressions of interest from more than six North American companies, with Boston-based Hancock Natural Resource Group heading the list.
A spokesperson for South Australia’s Treasurer Jack Snelling on June 11 would only confirm the government was “at the final stage of the forward sale process,” with a handful of shortlisted bidders and expects to have the sale completed by the end of the calendar year, The Border Watch reported.
The primary source of this article is The Border Watch, Mount Gambier, South Australia, June 12, 2012.
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