WoodTECH 2025: Reshaping the Sector

The opportunity of a generation? Climate change and the readiness of the New Zealand and Australian wood processing industry to take advantage of a new future?

Timber demand was down in 2024, suppressed by receding housing starts in both New Zealand and Australia, due to high interest rates. For 2025, with reduced interest rates, looks set to provide more favourable conditions for improved demand for timber with log prices remaining stable.

In March 2025, we are bringing together industry leaders and experienced energy, wood residues and technology specialists as speakers. They will share their expertise to help sawmilling and wood processing business leaders across Australasia become more competitive.

For our WoodTECH NZ Conference in Rotorua, Marty Verry, CEO of Red Stag Group, will share his insights in growing the Red Stag Timber and Red Stag Timberlab companies to where they are today. He will speak to further opportunities for all wood processors that will lift the tide for all NZ operators.

Together Red Stag Timber and Red Stag Timberlab employ over 430 full-time staff. Their combined lumber and engineered wood products output is over 630,000m³ of Radiata pine and Douglas fir annually. Their products are sold in New Zealand and exported to Australia, Pacific Islands, Asia, Africa, Europe and North America, resulting in an annual turnover of over NZ$300 million.

Our second keynote speaker for Rotorua is David Turner, CEO of Sequal Lumber in Kawerau. His philosophy for the company is to challenge, transform and give more to the future through wood. “Some people believe that you must take more to get more, and that for every winner there must be a loser… but that’s not what we believe. We believe that the greatest level of growth can be achieved when everyone works to grow each other – we believe you grow by giving.”

His Sequal team is committed to the customer and operational excellence, supplying custom-cut radiata pine lumber – producing exactly to the customer’s needs, delivered just in time, and eliminating all waste. Products are exported throughout the Australasian, Asian and Middle Eastern markets, supplying a variety of end customers including the furniture, construction, pallets, and packaging industries.

What’s Planned: Woodtech 2025 Conference Series in Rotorua & Melbourne

• Exploring perspectives for better outcomes for Australasian wood manufacturers • Key management issues/challenges for sawmillers and wood processors
• International advances in technologies for improving competitiveness
• Potential advantages for improving energy use wood residues utilisation

With more and more challenges facing sawmilling companies, FIEA is proud to bring industry leaders together to find out how they can meet and overcome them to be more competitive, sustainable and profitable. This conference series is targeted at company directors, owners and senior managers with a focus on business management and technology opportunities.

We seek speakers with experience, insights and global perspectives on specific topics including:

• Which technologies are delivering best value for sawmills / dry mills?
• Role of artificial intelligence in wood manufacturing industry
• Challenge facing wood producers in North America and Europe
• Changes coming for management and automation of operations
• Does SIZE matter ~ what can smaller mills do that big ones can’t?
• What do mass timber products (eg – CLT) offer for wood producers?
• Complementary products/processes to bring competitive advantage
• Key environmental and sustainability issues for wood producers globally
• Key developments in wood waste use for energy, etc.

If interested in speaking, contact WoodTECH programme manager, Ken Wilson.