Wodonga-based national transport company SCT Logistics will transport millions of tonnes of plantation timber burnt in NSW during the summer bushfires that would otherwise go to waste, thanks to support from the Victorian Government.
Minister for Regional Development Jaclyn Symes announced support for SCT Logistics’ $3.65 million expansion of their Wodonga operations through the Regional Jobs Fund, which will enable the company to process and transport the burnt timber to Melbourne for export.
The expansion of SCT’s Wodonga site will increase capacity at its terminal so that up to 11,700 tonnes a week of bushfire-affected softwood can arrive from NSW, where the timber was burnt.
The project will create five new jobs and support more than 80 indirect jobs and new export opportunities for Victoria.
Timber processors have a window between 18 and 24 months before bushfire-affected softwood loses its value and there is currently not enough capacity with the industry to handle and store the additional timber felled this year as a result of the 2019/20 bushfires.
Without SCT’s expansion plans for its intermodal freight terminal, up to 3.5 million tonnes of product would remain unprocessed in NSW.
The salvage freight opportunity brings forward a longer-term plan by SCT to grow its rail freight from the Wodonga terminal.
This builds on SCT’s previous $18 million project, which was supported by the Victorian Government through the Regional Jobs and Infrastructure Fund, enabling the company to capitalise on domestic and international transport opportunities.
The facility, based at Logic, is already providing the region with hundreds of local job opportunities, with the rail freight terminal transforming freight operations around Wodonga by helping to increase the competitiveness of exports from regional Victoria.