The Annual Reports of both Sustainable Timber Tasmania and Private Forests Tasmania paint a picture of a growing, sustainable industry.
It is pleasing that Sustainable Timber Tasmania today has announced a healthy statutory profit including an underlying profit of $6 million - a $20 million turnaround from last year’s underlying result. This is the first operating profit reported by the public forest manager since 2008-09.
STT has now retired all debt, as well as delivering a $15 million special dividend to the Government.
This is the first time in a decade that the public forest manager has been debt free.
This result reflects a more efficient operating model following the restructure, improved prices for products, and increased sales volumes.
In accordance with standard accounting practices, the profit result was not directly impacted by the $60 million sale of forestry rights to 29,000 hectares of hardwood plantations, which was treated as a non-operating asset sale.
The Government thanks the Board and staff of Sustainable Timber Tasmania for their hard work in achieving this result.
In further good news, the Private Forests Tasmania annual report shows the total private forest harvest rose for the sixth consecutive year, with a 9 per cent increase to 4.25 million tonnes.
While these are positive results, the Government is aware that challenges remain in rebuilding the forestry industry.
The Hodgman Liberal Government has been working hard to turn things around since the Labor-Green disaster, and we are committed to ensuring the industry continues to grow.
