Primary Industry
Issue No. 3 - December/ 2001/january
growing south
Once considered the “forgotten” region of South Australia, the State’s South-East is experiencing rapid economic growth through key industries, value-adding and a “get it done” self-reliant attitude.
Growth is causing its own problems in the South-East, but they’re problems which are largely welcome by most.
The region typically produces wine (about 10% of the total Australian crush, including 20% of the premium wines), livestock and livestock products, grain, vegetables, seed, wood products and lobsters. The area produces about $5 billion annually, about 8% of South Australia’s GDP but with only 2% of the State’s arable land.
Historically, forestry has been a pillar of the South-East economy and a great deal of growth has taken place in the local industry. Roughly 4000 people, about an eighth of the South-East workforce, work directly in forestry while another 4000 work in support or related businesses. About 100,000 hectares are devoted to softwood plantations, with an additional 1500 hectares for hardwood. Annual exports from the region are around a million tonnes of wood products. The industry is roughly valued at $1.7 billion.
Several forestry businesses operate in the South-East – larger operations include Auspine Ltd, which claims to be the largest importer of pinus radiata softwood woodchips in the world and which serves as an example of business innovation in the region.
Auspine recently announced a new $270 million contract to export woodchips to Japan, which will see about 2.5 million tonnes of woodchips from the company’s sawmill at Tarpeena go to Japan in the next five years. It is an export relationship which goes back to the mid-1980s.
“Plantation softwood woodchip exports have increased significantly since then,” managing director Adrian de Bruin says.
Auspine is also examining the possibility of constructing a 60 megawatt biomas...
