So why is Forestry Tasmania subsidising Ta Ann so much?

Above and Below is a table extracted from the 2012 Forestry Tasmania Sustainability Report.

It shows the amounts of peeler logs sold over the previous 5 years, both for Ta Ann and for Export.

The striking part is that somehow “Low Grade Export Peelers” are worth more at the wharf than “High Grade Domestic Peelers” are at the factories of Ta Ann.

The prices are Mill Door Landed Value which means at the door of Ta Ann or at the Wharf in Burnie.

So why is Forestry Tasmania subsidising Ta Ann so much. We already paid them a $10.3 million subsidy to set up the plants in Tasmania; I believe we built the buildings for them.

And we subsidise their electricity. Now we sell them the High Grade logs at a lower price than Low Grade export logs.

I am coming to the belief that none of this is supposed to make sense.

Which means that Ta Ann are getting an even better deal.

Full details supplied in attached page from the Data Tables, Download:
2012_data_tables_on_supplied_timber.pdf

Remember also that the logs that Kim Booth ( TT here ) is getting milled at Gowrie Park at the moment are from the Low Grade Export Peeler stockpile. The stockpile contains a mixture of Eucalypt, Myrtle and Blackwood Logs.

My cynical mind suggests to me that the Chinese buy the logs and mill them into quite nice timber before chipping the residues.