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Black Forest, a timber mill based at Woodend in central Victoria, has been facing possible closure since the State Government earlier this year announced big cutbacks in native forest harvesting.
However, life goes on, and last week the latest addition to the business - a $1.8 million timber kiln drying and energy plant - was formally opened by the federal Minister for Forests and Conservation, Ian Macdonald.
Two new kilns in the plant bring the total number of kilns at the mill to eight, deepening the company's commitment to value-adding that has made it a model for the hardwood timber industry.
The mill, which specialises in hardwood timber for flooring and furniture, employs 50 people and is the town's biggest employer. At least 25 new jobs are expected to be created by the new plant.
These are highly skilled manufacturing jobs as more complex machinery is required to make specific parts for the furniture industry.
The company's general manager, Diane Tregoning, said use of the new kilns, which each have the capacity to process 400 cubic metres of timber, would increase the volume of value-added products through the mill.
The next phase would be to use excess steam from the wood combustion burner to generate power in-house and thus cut costs.
Black Forest Timbers was formed in 1974 when three local sawmills amalgamated. The earlier emphasis on construction timber has been phased out over the past four years in favour of flooring and furniture.
Turnover is now about $6 million. About 90 per cent of the timber the company uses is Messmate, whose hardness makes it ideal for flooring. The company's contracts include parquetry and flooring in the State Library, Federation Square, Crown Casino and the State Hockey and Netball Centre. Export markets include Japan, the United States, the Philippines, Turkey - even Tahiti.
The cloud hanging over the company is security of resource. Black Forest Timbers sources its wood from the Wombat State Forest, which is about 240,000 hectares in area. About half of this is a national park, with timber for industry sourced from the rest.
The forest's sustainable yield of 40,000 cubic metres of timber under the West Regional Forest Agreement was reduced to 8600 cubic metres in the government's cutbacks.
This amount is meant to supply six mills. Black Forest alone is licensed to process 22,220 cubic metres of timber.
Mrs Tregoning is challenging the veracity of the new figures.
A review written by the state's leading forestry academic, Professor
Ian Ferguson of Melbourne University, concluded: "The 2001 inventory estimate
is so imprecise and incomplete that no policy or contractual decision should
be based on it."
The sword may be hanging there for a bit longer yet.
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