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Rayonier is one of the largest forest owners in New Zealand since its acquisition of 105,000ha from the New Zealand Government in 1992.
For almost two decades the forests have been named Matariki Forests in recognition of the Matariki cluster of stars reappearing in our night sky in early June when new crops are planted – or, in Rayonier Matariki Forests’ case, new trees – and the beginning of a new cycle of growth.
Rayonier Matariki Forests is proud to own approximately 120,000 hectares of some of the best radiata pine plantations across the country from Northland to Southland.
Rayonier Matariki Forests invests significantly in research and development aimed at improving tree growth, wood quality and the efficiency of its forestry operations. As early quick adopters of emerging technology, the focus is on better forests, safer practices and the delivery of real value to its customers.
Rayonier has had a longstanding relationship with China, with pulp trading beginning in 1972 and then moving into North American logs in the 1980s.
In the late 1990s, Rayonier New Zealand began log exports to China and in 1998 was honoured to receive the Marco Polo Award from China for contributions to US-China trade.
In 2001 it employed a dedicated export manager, based in Shanghai, to manage the New Zealand log trade and in 2002 exports of New Zealand logs expanded to Zhangzhou.
In 2005 log exports to China were seeing significant growth and Rayonier New Zealand established the Matariki Joint Venture to manage the sale and export to a growing number of destinations, including Guangxi, Fujian, Yangtze Delta and Shandong.
Since 2008 the China market has been the single largest log export market for Rayonier Matariki Forests and New Zealand as a whole, accounting for more than 70% of the country’s total log exports.
In 2020 Rayonier Matariki in conjunction with Hancock Forest Management (now Manulife) formed the AVA Timber Joint Venture to manage their combined annual log export volume of about 5.0 million m3.
Today, exports to China are loaded at five New Zealand ports – NorthPort, Port of Tauranga, Port of Napier, Lyttelton and South Port.
Rayonier Matariki Forests’ highly experienced export team take pride in fostering long term customer relationships built on integrity, honesty and delivering on promises. Realising the importance of getting to know its customers in their place of business, Rayonier Matariki Forests has retained “in market” representation since 2001 and regularly visits its valued trading partners.
We have been working closely with our Chinese customers for nearly two decades and look forward to celebrating the next fifty years of trade relationships with China.