Southwood Fibre, which already has a sawmill and processing facility in the region, has submitted a development application to the Huon Valley Council for the private proposal it says could generate A$55m (US$42m) each year in economic stimulus.
Under the proposal — which will take up to two years to build should the council approve it — certified plantation forests in the area will be processed at the existing Southwood facility for transport on a logging road to a single-use loading facility at Strathblane, just south of Dover, for direct export.
Only product certified to Australian Forestry Standards and/or Forest Stewardship Council requirements will be exported from the facility.
Ever since former forestry powerhouse Gunns sold the Triabunna mill for A$10m (US$7.6m) in 2011, southern Tasmania has been without a wood export facility, with products freighted to Bell Bay in the North to be shipped.
