One of New Zealand’s largest plywood producers is planning to shut its Tokoroa plant, threatening 119 jobs just as the holiday season approaches. It comes as NZ Media reports that Carter Holt Harvey (CHH) will cease local manufacturing at the plant and instead import ply from overseas, a move that caught staff—and the community—off guard.
According to E Tū Union site spokesperson Red Middlemiss, Monday’s announcement is “a bolt from the blue,” with CHH, which operates alongside OJI Fibre Solutions at the Kinleith Mill site, having already been sourcing plywood from Australia and other markets. “They’ve found they can import it cheaper than they can make it here,” he said, underlining the financial motives driving the decision.
The closure compounds turmoil in the New Zealand timber and paper-based industry. In June, OJI Fibre Solutions cut 130 roles and closed New Zealand’s last paper-making machine. Whilst CHH itself halved its Tokoroa plywood workforce before Christmas last year and announced plans to shut down the Eves Valley sawmill in Nelson in late 2025.
“Staff have been told production is ceasing,” Middlemiss added, revealing that A formal consultation period will determine who stays and who goes, with outcomes due by early November. Of roughly 70 on-site E Tū members, many more contractors are expected to lose work. CHH plans to retain a skeleton crew to oversee quality control once imports arrive.
Industry-wide pressures have only intensified in recent years. Last month, Wood Central revealed that building consents plummeted from 51,000 in 2022 to 34,000 in the year to June, while electricity, compliance, and insurance costs continue to rise. Meanwhile, global tariffs and geopolitical tensions are disrupting export markets and squeezing margins.
“It’s time to batten down the hatches and do the best you can,” according to Jeff Ilott, executive director of the Timber Industry Federation. “Some mills here are into their fourth and fifth generation—they don’t walk away lightly.”
