Woodchip export deal signed in Tasmania

Tasmania's export woodchip industry has started taking steps to recovery, with the state government signing the first in a string of deals.

One contract has been signed and another three are on the way which will involve the timber by-product leaving the state from both the north and south, while maintaining a promise there not be any unsightly piles of woodchips, Forestry Minister Peter Gutwein said on Friday.

"The options involve exports from (Hobart's) Macquarie Wharf and exports from the north respectively," he said in a statement.