According to reports, Western Australia Governor Mark McGowan MLA announced an investment of US$350 million to expand the softwood lumber industry in Western Australia.

The State' s Forest Products Commission (FPC) expressed great expectations for this expansion of softwood planting and welcomes to provide sustainable forest management activities for Western Australia.

It is reported that this record investment is expected to provide at least 33,000 hectares (330 million square wood) of coniferous wood plantations, planting up to 50 million pine trees, equivalent to the storage of 7.9 million to 9.5 million tons of carbon dioxide.

At present, most of the pine wood products used in the state' s housing and construction market come from the cork processing industry, which also shows that the market demand for cork will always exist or will continue to expand, and the cork timber industry will be full of supply and price challenges. This expansion will provide surplus inventory for the timber industry in Western Australia in the future, solve supply problems, and gradually develop and grow.

In addition, the Western Australian Government announced at the end of the current forest management plan from 2014 to 2023 that all wood from native forests will be limited to forest management activities to improve forest health and clean up approved mining operations. It is expected that these activities will produce a limited amount of natural wood, which will be subject to the normal bidding procedures of the Forest Products Commission.

The government has pledged $50 million to support the Just Transition Fund, which will assist workers, businesses, and communities in the Southwest to make the transition. FPC will cooperate with the industry to make necessary adjustments for the future.