One of Australia’s largest timber companies can now produce enough structural framing timber to support more than 50,000 new timber-framed houses every year, with virtually every part of the pine log finding a life along the value chain.
That is according to Hyne Group CEO Jim Bindon, who told Wood Central the company’s three mills — two sawmills in Maryborough, Queensland and Tumbarumba, New South Wales, as well as a state-of-the-art cross-laminated timber XLAM facility in Albury — had spent the years since COVID building a vertically integrated business designed to withstand the uncertainty in the Gulf as well as a housing crisis much closer to home.
Wood Central understands that Hyne’s feedstock comes from Australian-grown pine, harvested on a 30-year cycle from seedling to sawmill without reliance on imported log supply. And whilst the bulk of the pine ends up in higher value structural glulam and cross-laminated timber products, lower-grade logs feed the Hyne Pallets business, which now owns a network of six manufacturers in Queensland, New South Wales, Victoria and Western Australia. Meanwhile, bark and other residues are used in landscaping and garden care products, serving both home garden and commercial potting markets.
“Our acquisition strategy has transformed the business in just a few years from a timber manufacturer to a vertically integrated supplier of construction timbers, engineered wood products, pallets and garden care products, all Australian grown, supplied and networked for in-house supply security.”
Jim Bindon, CEO of Hyne Group, who today spoke of the importance of soverignity over the fully value chain of wood products.
“Importantly, what were six individual pallet companies are now six networked pallet manufacturers and distributors under one ownership structure, which also owns the sawmills here on Australian soil, providing certainty for the key raw material supply chain required to be a critical supplier of timber pallets.”
And whilst Hyne has built that structure over the years, the timing could not be more pointed. “Certainly, right now, doubts over the import supply chain for many products highlight the strength in sovereign manufacturing capability, and Hyne stands ready to increase supply in response to this,” Bindon said, as Wood Central has reported mounting industry pressure to shore up domestic structural timber supply amid global trade disruption rippling through construction material chains.
That capacity is underwritten by UK parent James Jones and Sons Limited — a 185-year-old family timber processor — and by Hyne’s own distribution centres and long-term freight arrangements across the eastern seaboard. XLAM’s mass timber range sits alongside framing and pallets in the broader group offer, extending its reach into mid-rise alongside its framing base.
It comes as Wood Central reported on Monday that Hyne’s Tumbarumba mill — its single largest investment at the time of acquisition 25 years ago — has absorbed $180 million in capital since, now producing 500,000 cubic metres of plantation pine every year, with a 4,700 square metre storage facility opened in 2024, built for one reason: to keep timber dry.
Please note: Hyne Timber is a major partner in a new AFWI-supported project, the Future Lightweight Timber Framing, which is working with eight separate Australian universities to better optimise timber use, fabrication, and installation in Australian housing. To learn more, click here to visit the AFWI website.
