Lot's new in the Fiii hardwood market

By Jack W. Millikan President International Hardwood Products Association Alexandria, Va.

I N CASE some of you do not know Iwhere Fiji is, it's six hours by jet toward Australia from Honolulu. By fast freighter it is 14 days from West coast ports on P.A.D. Roll On-Rolloff, huge new ships.

To understand why the new availability and emphasis by Fiji on hardwood lumber and veneer, a bit of explanation is in order. Over the last 30 years, the Fiji Forest Commission and the Fiji Pine Commission with native land owner cooperation have brought to maturity large stands of Pinus caribaea. Because these supplies provide pine for local construction, pulpwood and plywood cores, the more valuable hardwoods are increasingly available for export.

To organize the industry for proper export marketing, several things have been done in the last few years to make the effort successful.

o Fiji has a viable governmentcontrolled grading system so that export customers in the U.S., Europe, Australia, New Zealand and Japan can be certain to receive the grades they have purchased. The graders work for the producers, but producers have no authority over graders for their grade certificates. Regular load check grading is done by the Forest Commission graders.

o There are two main islands producing timber (Viti Levu and Vanua Levu) and the forests of hardwood contain mixed species. Various timber concessions and areas of cutting at any one time contain mixed species. A consortium was established to ensure cooperation. It could combine the supply of logs and cuts to handle volume orders of a single species effectively. The largest producer of veneer and saw timber, Fiji Forest Industries, took the lead in forming this consortium and it has developed into a cooperating reality called Kabuna-FFI. Forty percent of this company is owned by the Kabuna Holding Ltd., which is a Vita Levu landowners' company which participates in the timber sales as well as receiving their log revenues. These developments and others not yet formally announced will make available orderly export marketing, introduction of new species into the marketplace in volume and constant supply, and well priced, well prepared hardwood lumber. Construction of new dry kilns are scheduled to begin this year and to be completed next year. A brief review of a few of the more salable species for the U.S. market for veneer and timber might be helpful.

DAKUA MAKADRE (pronounced makandre) is a light brown wood of the Agathis species. The logs are

Sfory at a Glance

Developments In Flll have In. cnased thelr export capablllties. background of dependable supply. some of the Fl. lian woods and a qulck look al the country ltself.

often 6' in diameter and are clear up to 30' of limbs. It has the appearance of birch, although it is softer than birch. It is now well accepted in the U.S. in veneer form since the large logs produce one piece faces. In New Zealand, the dakua is called Kauri pine, and large quantities are now produced and shipped there from Fiji. Well sawn and graded lumber is now available for the U.S. market to match plywood currently available from several major West Coast producers.

KAUVULA is a white wood which closely resembles ramin. Large logs make exceptional width and length averages available. Soon, veneer will be available in this species.

YAKA has a dark heartwood with a white sap outside ring in the log. This makes the lumber quite variegated with the sapwood in evidence in much of the lumber. This species is Fiji's most exotic hardwood and brings higher prices than their other woods.

BAUVUDI (pronounced bowvundi) has a pleasing dark red color with a mahogany type grain. A smaller log makes wide widths harder to obtain. This species is medium hard, mills well and is stable.

KAUDAMU (pronounced kandamu) is similar to bauvudi except for larger logs. Fijians call this species Fiji cedar. It is red in color, and has a "feather" type flash grain which is very attractive to the eye.