Mark Ross

NEW ZEALAND — Timber industry leaders have taken umbrage at the government’s belief that cement has no practical substitutes and needs to be supported with up to $60 million in taxpayers’ funds to maintain operations at the Golden Bay Cement factory. Finance Minister Nicola Willis announced last week the government would grant up to $60m for the company to undertake at least $150m in investments to support cost-effective production to 2040. Willis said cement has no “practical substitutes”. But that view has drawn a sharp response from Mark Ross, head of the Wood Processors & Manufactures Association (WPMA). “Minister Willis only needs to look out the window,” he said. He was referring to the soon-to-be-completed six-storey Parliamentary building in Wellington standing alongside the Beehive, which is being built from NZ-made engineered wood products. …Ross said there is a tendency from the government to support high-emitting producers over renewable, carbon-storing wood products.