Welcome back. We’re excited about what 2018 will bring and are looking forward to a positive year.

The logging sector is already off to a great start – a recent report in the NBR says export log prices have achieved a new record, hitting $131 a tonne, which is the highest since AgriHQ began collecting data. The high prices are the result of continued strong demand from China, lower shipping rates and a favourable currency.

This means we are continuing to see our forestry customers upgrading their gear and expanding their fleets to cope with additional work. Their biggest constraint is finding skilled and motivated workers.

In other industry news, the deal to sell UDC to Chinese company HNA has fallen through after the Overseas Investment Office put the kibosh on the planned $660 million deal. This means the UDC business is still for sale, and there is speculation as to whether Heartland Bank, which showed interest in purchasing UDC when it first came up for sale, is still interested in acquiring it or whether other overseas buyers will emerge.

Financial journalist David Hargreaves points out that, in November, Heartland announced a $59 million capital raising to “support continued growth” and speculates that this “could prove to have been useful and timely” if Heartland did intend to buy UDC.

At Finance New Zealand, we are watching this with keen interest, and will keep you posted as to how any sale unfolds, and the opportunities and effects this may deliver.

In house, we have recently welcomed a number of new business partners: Jason Turner and Michael Ross have joined our upper North Island team; Alan Rigby in our central North Island team; and Anthony Corcoran and Stu Whitehead in our central South Island team.

With the growth of our teams comes the opportunity for us to grow our brand awareness as well as adding significant commercial finance expertise to our business. For our clients, this means we can offer you a more diverse range of business finance solutions, tailored to you, whatever industry you’re in, right across New Zealand.

So, if you need a finance solution for growth or to assist with cash flow, talk to your business partner at Finance New Zealand for finance that works for you.