How Logging was affected by Lock down
Hi, today I wish to talk about how COVID-19 has affected many industries around New Zealand. Now I can't go into them all but I have chosen logging as an example. Logging was affected because other countries were in lock down and they stopped buying our logs. This caused many people to lose their incomes.
At the moment prices on logs per ton is the highest they have ever been on record; $193 per ton for pruned logs. The price is lower on logs that haven't been pruned because of the knots in it, this is because knots in the wood make the wood weaker. Per ton for a log that isn't pruned it is worth at the moment $158. These record prices are because China badly wants our logs and the countries they normally buy them off are now in lock down.
China went into lock down before everyone else and that is where New Zealand sends our logs. Up our road for example, there was a forest being cut down. Approximately 18 men had to stop work this meant they never received wages, That meant their families had no money coming into their homes. The communities in the far north have been giving out food parcels to families who are struggling with money and not been able to afford food.
This was during level four lock down. As soon as level three started the men were allowed to start working again, this was made possible because they all work separately in big 40 ton machines which gives them good physical distancing meaning they could stay healthy and avoid the virus.
China could only stay shut down for so long before they were desperate for logs again. And when they were, there was a massive demand of four logs and suddenly there was a shortage of trucks and truck drivers. When there is high demand for something and not much of the product, the price goes up.
Long story short we are now at level one and normal working conditions apply to the men in the logging industry. They are now working very hard as our Logs can now be exported out of our country. We hope this continues for a long time as they have had a pretty tough time.
Hopefully I have explained to you how the corona virus had a massive impact on the logging industry and our communities. If the lock down had gone much longer, the welfare of our people would have suffered more, due to the workers having no income and families not being able to pay their bills and buy food. The logs would have stayed stockpiled and been worth nothing. Thanks for listening to my speech
