January exports a record

EXPORTS: Logs keep rolling out of the yard, but with a wet winter and an unprecedented amount of logging, the region's roads are under pressure. Picture by Liam Clayton

THE January throughput of cargo through Eastland Port achieved a record log tonnage for the month in what was the busiest January for wood export since Eastland Port was created.

As was reported in brief on Saturday more than 178,000 tonnes of logs were exported, an increase of 45 percent on January 2016.

“January can traditionally be a low volume month because of the Christmas and holiday breaks when forest operation stops, but this January’s throughput nearly doubled that of January 2016,” said port general manager Andrew Gaddum.

“It was the busiest January for wood export since Eastland Port was created in 2003.”

Eastland Port’s busiest months for log throughput have been March, April, September and October.

In 2016, 2.3 million tonnes of logs were exported and this was expected to rise to 2.5 million tonnes for 2017.

“The port continues to grow side-by-side with the forestry industry and manage the huge volume of logs coming to the port,” Mr Gaddum said.

“While Eastland Port will be able to handle the 2.5m tonnes of wood predicted for this year, projections show the port will need to be able to handle 4 million tonnes over the next ten years.”

Mr Gaddum said work was already under way to unlock the port’s potential to manage the predicted wood volume so it can continue to support an industry, in which by 2020, one in 10 people could be earning their living.