Have you ever wondered at the relationship between strong economic downturns (even recessions) and investors perception of market risk? Economic downturns are a fact of life occurring periodically, often at the most inopportune times. We are now in a sharp economic downturn which is becoming a recession due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. […]
Between June 2015 and June 2017 MGP10 prices trended down in real terms in the middle of the most recent and prolonged construction boom. This trend apparently bucked conventional wisdom that prices increase in times of high demand. Three trends in the market were apparent which may explain this unusual event. They are: The increase […]
The ongoing Corona virus pandemic and a desperate scramble to procure personal protective equipment (PPE) for frontline medical staff is leaving many countries exposed and is putting lives at risk. Australia is a leading exporter of eucalyptus wood fibre which can be a major component of face masks, but they cannot be produced locally because […]
The spruce bark beetle (Ips typographus) is native to Europe and is normally present in manageable populations. The problem with Spruce in Mainland Europe is that a lot of it was originally planted offsite. Now with lots of stressed trees around and mild winters unable to knock back populations it has become such a big problem.
There is ongoing debate about the management of natural forests and in specific fuel load reduction in natural forests in parts of the US and in Australia. There is also the question of residue utilisation from plantation forests. Briquettes is a relatively simple renewable energy product that can be produced from forest waste material.