Commonwealth Forestry Review

NOTES AND COMMENTS 11
D.S.I.P. ACCORDING TO the General Manager of Lever's Pacific Timbers,
Log Shipments Mr. M. Collins, over one hundred thousand cubic feet oflogs (more
to Australia than one million superficial feet) was shipped recently from
Kololnbangara to Australia on the Kokusei Maru. This is
understood to be the largest single shipment of logs yet made to Australia from the
Solomons, or from PapuajNew Guinea. They are to be used mainly in plywood
manufacture in Brisbane and Sydney.
Considerable publicity, including television coverage and an article in the Australian
Financial Review, was given to the arrival of the logs. They are being supplied at
cheaper prices than similar tropical hardwood logs from Sabah, and it is hoped that
this shipment will lead to considerable expansion oflog exports to Australia.
Mr. K. W. Trenaman, the Conservator of Forests, comments that a number of small
shiplTIents has previously been nlade to Australia, New Zealand and other countries,
but that Japan has been, and is expected to remain, the largest buyer of timber from
the Solomons. However, if a second large market in Australia can be secured, this will
be a Inost welcollle and important development.
Association WE ARE indebted to Mr. G. J. Pleydell of United Africa Company
Technique (Timber) Limited for a report on the A.T.I.B.T. Autumn Meeting
Internationale Des in Paris. Although sonlewhat lengthy we publish it in full as it
Bois Tropicaux contains nluch of importance to tropical foresters and all concerned
with tropical hardwoods:
The autumn meeting of the Association Technique Internationale des Bois
Tropicaux was held in Paris on 27th and 28th October, 1970 at the Centre Technique
du Bois, under the chairnlanship of Mr. Peche, General President, assisted by
Mr. Catinot, General Secretary.
Men belonging by profession to the various sectors concerned with tropical
timber in all its aspects-production, marketing, utilisation-representing 15
out of the 20 countries which are Inembers of the A.T.I.B.T., took part in the work
of the various Commissions and studied the problems set before them.
In opening the meeting Mr. Peche thanked the Centre Technique du Bois and its
Director, Mr. Collardet, for their renewed hospitality in offering the Association
a place in which to hold its nleetings and expressed pleasure at seeing the particularly
large nUlnber of participants.
The work of the COlnmissions then proceeded in the order that had been adopted.
ComlTIission V, responsible for the grading and seasoning of tropical timber and
under the chairmanship of Mr. CoIlardet, first examined the circumstances in
which a delTIonstration of the methods of grading rough logs and sawn timber from
the Far East might be organised.
It then studied how the tropical sawn timber market might be affected by Great
Britain's request that the use of British measurements in commercial transactions
be abandoned in favour of the metric systerTI and, in the case of sawn timber, in
favour of new sizes of sawn pieces.
The finishing touches were put to a list of currently used tropical species that
are susceptible to attack by clean pin holes.
The commercial grading of varieties of Meranti continued to be studied and a
report was finally made on the progress achieved with the multilingual dictionary
giving the terminology of defects.
Commission Ill, entrusted with transport and handling matters and presided over
by Mr. Wood, first dealt with the problem of parcelling sawn timber; in this
connection harmonisation of the rules adopted by the various Shipping Line Conferences
would be desirable. It then listened to a report by Mr. R. C. Roberts of
Palm Line Limited on the future trends in the maritime transport of timber, the
types of ships required for timber and the cost of freight.