Why Softwood – Radiata pine?
Australia’s forest plantations now exceed 1.7 million hectares of plantations (as at December 2004). This consists of around 1 million hectares of softwood species and 0.7 hectares of hardwood. (URS Market Report for Willmott Forests Limited 2007 Project) The Australian timber industry has been growing Radiata pine plantations on mass since the early 1920’s. This trend continues today and currently there are a broad range of product markets, supported by an ever increasing range of individual products. This weight of product provides a good level of comfort for investors as the end log can be used for different end products and grown to suit specific markets and demand.Compared to native hardwoods, plantation softwood timber is less variable and therefore, more predictable as a “raw material”. This is extremely important as it provides larger yields of usable timber in a shorter time than many native species which have a relatively low recovery rate (rate of usable timber compared to t
