About NZTIF
100 years of service to the timber industry.
The New Zealand Timber Industry Federation (NZTIF) is the face of the nation’s sawmilling industry.
Our nimble, agile and able organisation works tirelessly between the needs of Members and the legislative issues that regulate our industry. Read on for more about NZTIF’s story, our work programme, our people and our sawmilling industry in NZ.
“NZTIF acts as a ‘watchdog’ for pending changes in the national and international environment.”
John McVicar, McVicar Timber + NZTIF President.
NZTIF is focused on the important issues that affect Members around compliance, standards, submissions, legislation, audits and regulation. NZTIF connects, simplifies and curates the information that helps NZ sawmillers survive and thrive in the business environment and regulatory.
Read on for more about NZTIF’s long history and current work programmes
NZTIF's Story
The New Zealand Timber Industry Federation, or NZTIF, has a long and proud history servicing our country’s sawmillers since 1912.
The NZTIF is the only industry body uniquely focused solely on representing the interests of New Zealand sawmills. Sawmills are where logs from plantation forests are cut or milled into timber which is supplied to the construction industry, wood processors and merchants. Around 50% of New Zealand’s sawn timber production is exported to around 30 countries, mainly around the Pacific Rim.
In the early 1900s, the New Zealand sawmilling industry was based on indigenous forestry milling species such as Rimu, Matai, Beech, Totara and Kahikitea. NZTIF’s predecessor organisations worked closely with the government on the promotion and protection of sawmilling interests. Specific issues dealt with in those early days included:
Uniformity of timber sizes
Royalties, log pricing, log and timber scaling
Wages and conditions of work
Regional and Species price lists
Timber haulage costs
Taxation, including allowance for wasting assets
Export of Rimu and supply of White Pine to dairy and freezing-works industries
In the 1950s, NZ switched to milling Radiata Pine and other exotic species including Douglas Fir and minor pinus species. Indigenous forests were conserved and plantation forests became the more prevalent source of logs for conversion to timber.
Today, the NZTIF continues to work incredibly hard to ensure the nation’s sawmillers can continue to produce top-quality environmentally-superior wood products. This special group of committed members are connected through a culture of cooperation, encouragement and comradeship.
The NZTIF has also been a hard-working global champion for this country’s timber industry.
Our combined rich history has played an influential role in shaping the industry and in establishing a sound platform for future growth of the private sawmilling community.
NZTIF's Work
For over a century, the NZTIF’s work has focused on key advocacy issues as needs arose.
Many of these remain top-of-mind in our work programme today.
Sale of state forest assets in the 1980s - focusing on domestic and overseas buyers, forest ownership, how forest assets should be parceled, and residual ownership by the government
Market development in the 1990s - creating export markets for Radiata Pine timber in:
Australia - for treated timber for outdoor uses instead of domestic hardwoods
USA - for moulding and millwork market opportunities arising from preservation of the Grey Spotted Owl’s habitat
South-East Asian markets (including Thailand, Vietnam, Philippines and Malaysia) - for sustainably-managed timber substitutes for diminishing native wood species
Taiwan - for industrial grades into their expanding manufacturing sector
China - for wooden products in a rapidly growing domestic market creating exports
Japan - was a major market for Radiata pine flitch for re-sawing in the 1990s
Regulatory environment work is ongoing - working closely with government ministers and agencies to ensure there is industry input into areas of government that impact on sawmilling operations
Standards and technical issues work is ongoing - ensuring that timber is fairly represented in its use for construction and other applications
The NZTIF is a passionate advocate for New Zealand’s sawmilling industry over a wide range of areas including:
market development and promotion,
communications and media,
standards and technical matters,
quality assurance and certification,
the commercial and regulatory environment and
providing advice and services to members.
Currently, the NZTIF is an active advocacy participant for New Zealand sawmillers with Te Uru Rakau or Forestry NZ (Ministry of Primary Industries or MPI) and key timber industry organisations to co-develop a strategy for the future of our nation’s forestry sector.
The NZTIF also work closely with other associations, federations and councils, including:
Forestry and Wood Processing Workforce Council by Te Uru Rakau / Forestry NZ (within the Ministry of Primary Industries, MPI)
NZTIF's Current Programs
Some of our current programmes in mid-2020 include:
Post Covid-19 Restart - working closely with MPI and other industry groups to develop safe working practices for returning to work during the Covid-19 pandemic
Forestry sector development strategy - developing a Forestry and Wood Processing strategy alongside MPI and other industry groups - watch this space!
Forestry and Wood Processing Workforce Action Plan - participating with industry groups to focus on the recruitment and retention of staff in the Forestry and Wood Processing sector - an exciting initiative in development!
Standards development programmes - developing of a range of Standards with other industry groups in NZ and Australia, including:
NZS3602 - Timber for use in Buildings
NZS3603 - Timber Structures Standard
NZS3604 - Timber Buildings not requiring Specific Design
NZS3640 - Chemical Preservation of Timber and Roundwood
AS/NZS 1604 - Timber Preservation Standards
Some freely available building-related standards are available here
Interested to find out more about our work programmes - please join us or get in touch.
NZTIF's Industry
NZ has a reputation as one of the best timber producers in the world.
Here are a few facts about the sawmilling industry in New Zealand:
NZ timber is an outstanding construction material with unrivalled environmental credentials
Our timber is used in higher grades for furniture and joinery manufacture, industrial applications, decking, fencing and walkways, and in lower grades for packaging pallets, bins and casing
NZ timber comes from renewable plantation forests managed sustainably
Our main species are Radiata Pine and Douglas Fir
Best practice operations include continual investment in new technologies and international techniques to improve productivity and quality.
NZ sawmillers also produce wood-chip for pulp and paper and reconstituted board products
Fun facts about NZ Timber
Sawmills seek to maximise the recovery of timber and the most valuable grades of timber from each log through the use of advanced technologies such as thin kerf sawblades, laser scanning and optimisation.
Radiata Pine came to New Zealand from California, USA.
Radiata Pine is a native species of the Monterey Peninsula, California. It was first introduced into New Zealand in 1860. Large-scale plantations were established in the 1930s, following the 1913 Royal Commission recommendations for planting exotic species. These recommendations came about in recognition that indigenous forests would not last forever and weren’t suitable for plantation forestry.
Today, Radiata Pine forests are grown in all regions of NZ.
Douglas Fir is the second largest plantation forestry species in NZ.
Douglas Fir originates from the North American Pacific coast, mainly British Columbia province in Canada, and Washington and Oregon states in USA. In NZ, Douglas Fir makes up 6% of our plantation forestry, compared with 90% in Radiata Pine. Douglas Fir forests are mainly located in the Otago and Southland wood supply regions, with lesser stocked areas in the Central North Island and in Canterbury.
Radiata Pine is a minor species in terms of world-wide timber use.
Radiata Pine is the predominant planted commercial species used in Chile and Australia, as well as in New Zealand. It is not widely planted in other major forestry regions.
Radiata Pine trees have a relatively short harvesting cycle.
NZRP trees typically reach an age of 26-28 years for harvesting to produce sawn timber. By comparison, Douglas Fir is ready for harvest at around 50 years.
The whole tree is used efficiently in the sawmilling process.
Logs that are normally milled in NZ have diameters from 200mm to 350mm. The amount of timber recovered is around 57% of the log volume. That goes to make timber framing for houses, timbers for furniture, joinery, packaging and other uses including engineered wood products.
Most of the remainder is used to make wood chip, which is then used to make ‘pulp and paper’ and reconstituted boards such as Medium Density Fibreboard (MDF) and particle board. MDF board is used to make cabinetry and particle board is used for flooring.Anything left over is sawdust. Sawdust is used in kilns to generate heat for use on sawmill sites and in horticultural and livestock applications.
Sawmills use emerging technology to reduce waste.
Sawmills seek to maximise the recovery of timber and the most valuable grades of timber from each log. They do this using advanced technologies such as thin kerf sawblades, laser scanning and digital optimisation tools
Is there a fun fact or a curious question that we can help you with?
Please get in touch at nztif@nztif.co.nz so we can assist.