NeXTimber’s new cross-laminated timber (CLT) and glue-laminated timber (GLT) manufacturing facility is on track to supply its first CLT panels by October 2023.
As reported by Built Offsite, Tmberblink is now preparing to ramp up production to meet demand, with the AUD 63 million capital investment in the combined CLT and GLT line representing a key point for the mass timber market in Australia.
Timberlink’s General Manager of Sales, Marketing and Corporate Affairs, David Oliver, stated, “It’s the only combined radiata pine facility to produce CLT and GLT in Australia.”
Timberlink will use local timber from the Green Triangle pine plantations, processed at its adjoining Tarpeena, South Australia facility.
Wood Central reported that NeXTimber will become the second cross-laminated supplier in Australia that can provide FSC, PEFC, and Responsible Wood claims on products after CUSP in Tasmania.
In August 2017, Timberlink became the first Australian sawmilling business to achieve FSC certification for solid wood products from its Tapeena and Bell Bay (Tasmania) production facilities.
In March, Wood Central reported that NeXTimber by Timberlink, along with domestic suppliers Xlam and Cusp, add to more than 20 importers who have serviced the market in recent years – with the Australia and NZ market expecting to exceed 800,000 cubic metres by 2026 according to a report published by marc last year.
According to Oliver, the “enthusiastic and growing” uptake of the products by the construction industry is a “firm nod to moving into a sustainable future,” with timber being hailed as “the ultimate sustainable resource.”
The Australian building and construction industry increasingly embraces mass timber solutions.
On Friday, T3 Collingwood, one of Australia’s largest all-timber buildings, announced it has ‘topped out.’ In the weeks leading up to the top-out, the project team installed 1,260 timber components, a concrete roof slab at Level 15 and final lift shaft lids.
The building uses mass timber in two basement levels, five concrete podium levels and ten levels of exposed glulam post and beam structure with CLT floor panels.
XLam Australia supplied 2,358 cubic meters of CLT, and Australian Sustainable Hardwood supplied 874 cubic meters of Glue Laminated Timber (GLT).
It is just one of many Australian projects embracing all-timber or a hybrid of mass timber, steel and concrete in high-rise construction.
Construction, equipment installation, and commissioning are running according to the original schedule at the NeXTimber manufacturing facility in Tarpeena.
“Based on the current installation, we expect to commence supply to the market in October this year,” Oliver added.
The site has been buzzing with activity, and throughout June and July, the team continued to tick off equipment installation milestones.
Spanning 15,000 square meters, the facility is poised to become a central hub for sustainable timber production in the region.
Warringtonfire has completed independent fire testing on the NeXTimber’s CLT and GLT mass timber products.
A copy of the results can be downloaded HERE.
