As FT contemplates its future, a future free of government subsidies, its rolling 3 year production plan for native forest harvesting has been posted on line.
Almost all the planned coupes are small in size and
disparate in location inevitably increasing the extraction costs of timber,
thereby making a return to profitability even less likely.
Notably included in the current 3 year plan is the
clear felling of a 51 hectare coupe FD 053A at Lapoinya in NW Tasmania.
FT privately suggests harvesting the coupe will be a
profitable operation. This is a rare occurrence for FT which, on average loses
$20 for every tonne of timber harvested or $250k in cash terms for a coupe this
size.
It is therefore a little surprising FT bypassed the
opportunity to showcase its profitability and sustainability bona fides and
release a little more info about a alleged profitable operation, one that needs
to be replicated across many coupes if FT is to survive the current insolvency
period currently overseen by the head of Treasury as a newly appointed director
of FT.
The Friends of Lapoinya Action Group (FLAG) has
engaged with FT with a view to fully understand what is planned. However the
perfunctory community consultations have raised more questions than answers.
As part an overall economic assessment of the coupe
FLAG undertook a carbon audit to ascertain likely carbon losses from a clear
fell operation.
