The NCT Story

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THE LATE SEVENTIES • oversupply leads to exports

In the mid to late seventies a very serious crisis arose. Growers could not dispose of all of their Pine and Eucalyptus pulpwood on the local markets. The oversupply situation was daunting. Something had to be done and the Board resolved that if the local markets could not absorb the surplus timber, NCT would have to find alternative outlets. It was then that NCT applied the old adage, when the going gets tough, the tough get going. And so...to log exports. Bugs, Spaniards and lazy stevedores In 1978 NCT contracted to ship a consignment of some 13000m 3 Eucalyptus grandis logs to Empressa Naçional de Celulosas (ENCE) in Spain. The logs had to be completely free of the little insect known as Phoracantha semi-Punctata which wriggled between the bark and the wood of the tree. The Spaniards were terrified of it. NCT field staff were despatched far and wide to ensure that all logs were free of such a horrendous pest which, if introduced to Spain, would destroy all Eucalyptus trees in that region. To say the least, those involved learnt a great deal from that venture! And the name of the infamous ship was MV Teti-N. ( See p20 ) The consignment arrived in due course off the port of Huelva, Spain, with much fanfare – but an unforeseen problem arose.

The shipment was too big and the vessel was prohibited from entering the harbour because it was likely that it might settle on the seabed at low tide. After cruising around outside the port for some days it was finally diverted to Cadiz. NCT was now beset with additional problems – lazy stevedores who worked slowly and to the letter. Needless to say demurrage charges started to come into force and eventually amounted to US$105 000. It was a good thing the exchange rate was a reasonable R0.87 to the dollar in those days! Agents and people who had professed to assist NCT suddenly became as scarce as processors voluntarily offering realistic prices for timber and, alas, NCT had to sort out the problem alone and foot the bill. But a valuable lesson had been learnt, and timber had been disposed of to the benefit of the growers. This initial shipment of Eucalyptus logs was so stressful to many that Mr Brian Knott, Extension Forester at the time, composed a bit of amusing doggerel to fit the occasion. We take the liberty of quoting it ...

The characters featured in the piece of comedy which follows are: Doug Crowe, David Earl, Derek Kinsey, Brian Knott, Steve Little, Ken McLeod, Tony Farrow, John Slatter and Walter Küsel.

The NCT Story

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