Assistant Forestry Minister Jonathon Duniam said the closure paper mills because of COVID-19 had caused the glut of woodchips affecting Tasmanian exporters.
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Senator Duniam said recent tensions in the China-Australia relationship in the wake of an Australian call for an independent inquiry into the origin of the coronavirus were not to blame.
"This is a supply and demand issue, and any suggestion otherwise is just plain wrong," he said.
"China has acknowledged publicly in recent months the benefits of the China-Australia Free Trade Agreement, and we hope to continue to have a positive trading relationship with China going forward.
Senator Duniam said there was an international downturn in demand for woodchips.
"This downturn is the direct result of a number of mills closing down because of COVID-19, which is causing a glut of woodchips on the market," he said.
"The industry is working through the downturn and we are continuing discussions with forest contractors to provide support where we can."
China recently applied an 80 per cent tariff on Australian barley and suspended imports from four Australian abattoirs.
Plantation woodchip exporter Forico chief executive officer Bryan Hayes said that Chinese and Japanese importers had deferred eight ships or about 400,000 tonnes of woodchip recently.
Resources Minister Guy Barnett met industry representatives on Wednesday.
Nick Clark
I am the Supreme and Magistrates Court reporter for the Examiner for the past 18 months. My journalism career has clicked over 30 years and encompasses four different spells at Tasmanian newspapers.
I am the Supreme and Magistrates Court reporter for the Examiner for the past 18 months. My journalism career has clicked over 30 years and encompasses four different spells at Tasmanian newspapers.
