One of New Zealand’s largest sawmilling facilities is months away from a full-scale reopening after the Millari Group – better known as the distributor of True Blue Timber – acquired the JUKEN Gisborne mill…a move that will see the rebranded Millari NZ directly ship much-needed supplies of laminated-veneer-lumber (LVL), plywood and Radiata pine to businesses on Australia’s east coast.
The move, eleven months after the Japanese-owned mill closed its doors, is being billed as a lifesaver for Australian businesses heavily dependent on the Chinese supply of LVL – with the group committing to a three-year investment programme to increase capacities to establish direction production of LVL (E14, E13, E10, LVL Formwork), plywood panels (structural, non-structural and MGP) as well Radiata pine products (G-graded, H2, H3 and H4-treated pine).
“Our Millari NZ facility in Gisborne will be on track to increase the output capacity of LVL, Plywood and timber production over the next few years as we invest in new machinery and technology for the 35,000 square metre factory,” said Ryan Yari, CEO, with the Millari group established last year to support the exponential growth of True Blue Timber’s products – with a 148% growth in engineered wood products last year alone.
“With these exciting facilities alongside our True Blue Timber operations, we will continue to offer the Australian industry a reputable and reliable ongoing source of high-quality EWP (engineered wood products) and timber products and deliver them directly with quick turnarounds.”
The acquisition, its first outside Australia, adds to True Blue Timber’s sites in Sydney and Melbourne and comes months after it grew its Smithfield, Sydney footprint from 4,000 square metres to 20,000 square metres – where it manufactures a range of products, including structural framing, LVL, I-Joist, glue-laminated timber (GLT) and plywood.
Wood Central understands that the new investment will see Millari NZ increase the mill capacity from 130,000 cubic metres per year (including 60,000 cubic metres for timber, 55,000 cubic metres for LVL and 15,000 cubic metres of plywood) to more than 200,000 cubic metres – with extensive upgrades to LVL and plywood lines over the next two years leading to a maximum capacity of 100,000 cubic metres for timber, 80,000 cubic metres of LVL and 20,000 cubic metres for plywood.
As it stands, New Zealand is one of Australia’s top markets for sawn wood timber, with more than 21% of imports coming across the Tasman, behind China (55%) but ahead of Germany (14%), Lithuania (12%) and the United States (10%). And of the $6.87 billion worth of imported forest and wood products (in 2022-23), plywood and engineered wood products have been growing steadily, with the FAO expecting demand for veneer and plywood to double over the next 25 years.
In November 2023, Wood Central revealed that the JUKEN mill struggled to compete against a flood of Chinese LVL plants entering the New Zealand (and Australian) markets. “Mountains of Chinese LVL are coming into New Zealand almost every week, seemingly out of nowhere,” an industry observer told Wood Central. “To establish a new LVL plant in New Zealand, or Australia for that matter, would need at least a five-year lead time that includes two years of planning and two years to get council approval and process another year to complete construction.”
“The Chinese are building one LVL plant every three months,” they said, with the mix of timber “likely to include logs from Russia, which are processed into LVL using a ‘back-door diplomacy’ arrangement between the two countries.
- Click here to learn more about the trade of Russian timber in China and the risk of Russian LVL infiltrating Australia’s building supply chains.
