Ms Giddings said woodchip processor Artec's decision to close for a month showed that it would not make any difference if the Triabunna mill reopened.

``If you don't have a market to sell to, it doesn't matter if you've got an export port or not - that's a reality,'' Ms Giddings said.

Her attempt to play down the importance of the Triabunna mill is a stark contrast to her comments last year describing it as a ``vital piece of the forest infrastructure''.

Artec's closure has forced two sawmillers to stand down their workers, and the Tasmanian Sawmillers Association has warned that another 27 sawmills will struggle to continue operating with nowhere to store or sell their by-product.

Ms Giddings said she would still like to see new owners Jan Cameron and Graeme Wood reopen the mill.

``However, at the moment even Triabunna would get to the point where it had too many woodchips and would not be able to take any more,'' she said.

``We are hopeful that we will be able to sell woodchips to China, but we need to be able to sell it in the volumes that enable our industry to be sustainable, and for the foreseeable future that's not looking very likely.''

Forestry Tasmania disagreed with Ms Giddings about the importance of the Triabunna woodchip mill.

``If Triabunna had been open when it should've been open, then we wouldn't have had these problems,'' managing director Bob Gordon said yesterday.

Mr Gordon said the closure of Triabunna had forced the price up as sawmillers had to pay more to transport their residue north.

He was confident that Artec would reopen at the end of the month, with two shipments scheduled.